Former stumper picks his all-time India Asia Cup XI, no place for Rohit Sharma

Former wicketkeeper Saba Karim picked his all-time India Asia Cup XI during the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. Interestingly, there was no place for Rohit Sharma in his team.

Making his picks on Sony Sports Network, Saba Karim went with the legendary duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as his openers. Sachin scored 971 runs in the Asia Cup from 23 matches at an average of 51.10, while Ganguly made 518 runs from 13 games. He left out Rohit, who has scored 939 runs from 23 matches (ODI format).

The former stumper then picked Virat Kohli, former all-rounders Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, followed by MS Dhoni in his batting order. Yuvraj scored 312 runs from 11 matches, while Raina made 547 runs from 13 games (ODI). He chose only one fast-bowling all-rounder in Kapil Dev.

Saba Karim then went with two of the finest spinners of all time, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. Harbhajan picked up seven wickets from as many games while Kumble bagged 14 scalps from 15 matches (ODI).

His two fast bowlers were Zaheer Khan and Jasprit Bumrah. Saba Karim named Sourav Ganguly as the captain of his team.

Saba Karim's all-time India Asia Cup XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly (C), Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (WK), Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Jasprit Bumrah.

---

India's record in Asia Cup

India is the most successful team in the history of the Asia Cup. The Men In Blue have won the tournament eight times so far, including seven ODI and one T20 titles. They are also the defending champions, having won the previous edition in 2023. However, the current 2025 edition is being played in the T20 format.

They won the first-ever Asia Cup that was held in 1983/84. Further, they went on to win the tournament three consecutive times in 1988/89, 1990/91, and 1994/95. After a considerable gap, they next won the tournament in 2010 and 2018, apart from winning the 2023 edition.

So far, only two T20 editions of the Asia Cup have been held before the ongoing edition. India won the first-ever T20 edition in 2016. They will be eager to win the title for the ninth time and continue their dominance.