India cricket team will be eyeing their fifth straight win in the Asia Cup 2025 as they take on Bangladesh in their next Super 4 tie on September 24. After putting up dominant performances against UAE, PAK, Oman, Suryakumar Yadav and co. faced a stiff challenge from Pakistan and had to take it almost till the last over to finish the game. After the beating that the bowlers took, and the struggles of certain batters, it could be wise for the Men in Blue to make certain changes to their playing XI vs BAN.
Making changes to the XI doesn’t essentially mean tinkering with the line-up on a large-scale. A couple of changes could do the job for India. Such as – dropping Jasprit Bumrah for Arshdeep Singh and giving Jitesh Sharma a chance instead of fielding Sanju Samson. The rest of the order can remain the same.
Predicted India XI vs BAN
| Position | Player | Role |
| 1. | Abhishek Sharma | Opener |
| 2. | Shubman Gill (VC) | Opener |
| 3. | Suryakumar Yadav (C) | Batter |
| 4. | Tilak Varma | Batter |
| 5. | Jitesh Sharma (WK) | Keeper-Batter |
| 6. | Hardik Pandya | All-rounder |
| 7. | Shivam Dube | All-rounder |
| 8. | Axar Patel | All-rounder |
| 9. | Kuldeep Yadav | Spinner |
| 10. | Varun Chakravarthy | Spinner |
| 11. | Arshdeep Singh | Pacer |
Arshdeep the need of the hour
India’s ace speedster has not really looked at his best in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. This was proved once again in the game against Pakistan where he registered his joint third-most expensive spell in T20Is. Bumrah struggled against the PAK batters, conceding 45 runs in 4 overs while also going wicketless.
In the tournament, so far he has managed to pick up just 3 wickets in 3 games while he has conceded 92 runs in 11 overs. Bumrah can might as well pave way for Arshdeep in the playing XI, if not for the remainder of the tournament, then at least in the game against Bangladesh. India’s best T20I bowler has featured in just one game so far in Asia Cup 2025 – against Oman where he created history by becoming the first Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in T20Is.
Although he was slightly expensive in that game, one cannot discount the fact that he is India’s most lethal weapon in terms of pace at this point of time in the shortest format of the game.
Struggling Samson out
The Kerala keeper-batter clearly struggled to bat in the game against Pakistan. Coming out to bat after India lost skipper SKY in the run-chase, Sanju managed to score just 13 runs off 17 deliveries before he was sent packing by Haris Rauf. 9 out of the 17 balls he faced were dots, a concerning sign for India as he significantly slowed down the momentum in the run-chase.
Samson has batted just twice in the tournament so far. The only time he managed to fire was in the game against Oman where he was promoted to number 3 in order to get some game time. He had 54% control in that scratchy knock, managing to score 56 off 44.
Perhaps, the time has come for India to take a bet on designated finisher Jitesh Sharma. The batter has warmed the bench since the start of the tournament. A risk could be taken and the batting order can be changed a little bit to accommodate Jitesh in the XI.
Editor's Pick
Cricket
Will Gambhir try Rishabh Pant or Nitish Reddy in IND vs SA 3rd ODI with series on the line?
Top Stories
