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The 2025 Men’s Asia Cup has reached its penultimate stage with defending champions India once again cruising into the final, where they will face arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, September 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. While the Men in Blue are unbeaten so far in the tournament, they are coming from a hard-fought game against Sri Lanka which they won in a Super Over.
On the other hand, Pakistan confirmed their place in the final after defeating Bangladesh by 11 runs on September 25 in Dubai. With the two arch-rivals once again locking horns but this time for the title triumph, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side were seen struggling on the field in their final Super Four game, which came on Friday, September 26.
Abhishek fine, Hardik to be assessed on Saturday: Morne Morkel
In the game, opening batter Abhishek Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were seen struggling with cramps. Although, Abhishek Sharma still took the field, but Hardik Pandya’s absence from the entire second innings left the fans concerned. In wake of it, Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel was questioned about the same, where he refused to confirm the Indian all-rounder’s availability for the final.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Morkel said, “Hardik, we will assess tonight. Abhishek is fine. They both struggled with cramps.” It is to be noted that Pandya left the field after bowling just one over whereas Abhishek Sharma fielded for 9.2 overs before going off the field in the second innings. Concern on Abhishek Sharma further rose when the opening batter did not walk out to bat in the Super Over and Shubman Gill was joined by Suryakumar Yadav.
India’s squad for Asia Cup:
Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel
