"He has bowled the odd over as well" - Sunil Gavaskar predicts India’s star performer ahead of Asia Cup 2025 match against Pakistan

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has picked current T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav as the ace in the pack for the Men in Blue ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 match against Pakistan on Sunday, September 14. The 76-year-old singled out the Mumbai Indians batter's overall captaincy, adding that his ability to bowl the odd over also made him a surprise package.

The 34-year-old took two wickets with his off-spin in a T20I against Sri Lanka in July 2024, which helped India tie the match and eventually win in the Super Over. Gavaskar told Sports Today:

“I think the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav, because not only as a batter, he has bowled the odd over as well, being the surprise package, picking up the wicket as we saw in Sri Lanka. But I think his overall captaincy that is going to be the ace in the pack as far as India is concerned.”

Gavaskar refused to read too much into the victories for both sides against United Arab Emirates and Oman, respectively. He did, however, say that India had a 60-40 edge over Pakistan, ahead of Sunday's clash.

“I don’t think we should read too much into these results because the margin of wins itself tells you what kind of opposition there was. I don’t want to write off the opposition because everybody starts on a note where they are learning. Both UAE and Oman are at a learning stage, and playing against big teams is only going to help their development if they learn from every game. So I don’t think the results actually tell you too much. I would think India would be 60-40. Me being an Indian, I would think India has a better chance than Pakistan," the legendary batter said.

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Sunil Gavaskar cautions India about Powerplay overs in both innings of the match

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has cautioned the Men in Blue about not losing the Powerplay overs, in both innings of the match. He felt that the team which goes on to win the first six overs in both innings tended to win the match. Gavaskar said:

“The one scenario is in the first six overs. The Powerplay. Always, in any T20 format, the Powerplay is so decisive more than anything else. Yes, there are the last four overs that can change the game as well, but the powerplay, if the team wins the powerplay, if a team wins both the powerplays, the batting powerplay and the fielding powerplay then they are more likely to go on to win. India will have to watch out for that”.

The Men in Blue opted to go with three spin bowling options in their Asia Cup 2025 opener against UAE. Hardik Pandya had taken the new ball along with Jasprit Bumrah in the match.