Not Rishabh Pant; Aakash Chopra Predicts Sanju Samson-Abhishek Sharma as Openers For India's Asia Cup 2025 Campaign

Asia Cup 2025: Once the England tour would be over, there will not be a lot of time to prepare for the Asia Cup which starts in the month of September in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. India, who would start as the defending champions, would have a new-look team with the seniors having called it a day. And hence, speculations over who would make the side and what would be the combinations have already started. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra reckons Rishabh Pant will not be part of the squad. He also went onto predict that Sanju Samson would open with Abhishek Sharma. 

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‘Sanju Samson is opening with Abhishek Sharma’

"There might have been talk about Rishabh Pant as well, but it won't happen now because he will return after getting fit from a long-term injury. In any case, he wasn't a part of the T20 team either. Sanju Samson is opening with Abhishek Sharma there," Chopra observed.

Chopra also confirmed that he is certain Mohammed Shami will not play the tournament and also expressed his doubts over Jasprit Bumrah's availability. 

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Asia Cup 2025

The 2025 edition of the men’s T20 Asia Cup will run from September 9 to 28 in the UAE, with India and Pakistan drawn in Group A alongside Oman and UAE. This means both India and Pakistan could end up facing each other three times in the tournament. Team India, the official hosts, would start their campaign against UAE on September 10. 

This edition will see the expanded version of the tournament and hence will feature eight teams this year — up from six — offering a broader platform for emerging cricketing nations like Hong Kong, UAE, and Oman, who qualified via the ACC Men’s Premier Cup.