Sanju Samson Ignored From Ravi Ashwin's India Playing XI For Asia Cup 2025 Match vs UAE

Asia Cup 2025: A reporter during the captains press conference asked the big question to India skipper Suryakumar Yadav at the session on Tuesday. It was the most obvious question and to that Suryakumar dodged it by claiming that fans need not worry about Samson. While his response was not what everyone was seeking, former India cricketer Ravi Ashwin has picked his India playing XI for the Asia Cup match against the UAE. 

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The big surprise in his Asia Cup side is Samson does not find a spot as Jitesh Sharma edges him to the playing XI. Ashwin has picked Jitesh over Samson as the latter does not have ample experience of playing as a finisher. 

‘Folks get scared with that opening combination’

"Shubman Gil and Abhishek Sharma. Folks get scared with that opening combination. Shubman Gill knows he needs to make runs. He is a run machine. He can make big runs at a lower strike rate," Ashwin stated.

"Abhishek Sharma will tee off at one end. Shubman Gill could be the glue around which the team is built up. In today's times, there is not a lot of need to become the glue in T20 cricket. But Shubman has it in him to play conventional cricket and still make a 100 off 55 balls," Ashwin explained.

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Ashwin's India XI

Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Jasprit Bumrah

India start overwhelming favourites against UAE in Dubai. Suryakumar Yadav and his men would like to get their campaign off to an emphatic start.