"He should change his tactics a little bit" - Varun Aaron's advice for Team India star ahead of IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025 Final

Former Indian pacer Varun Aaron urged skipper Suryakumar Yadav to play straight early in his innings before taking the unconventional route ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup final against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, September 28.

The Men in Blue have been in dominant form throughout the competition, winning all six of their games. However, Surya's form with the bat continues to be one of their few worries, heading into the final.

The 35-year-old has scored only 71 runs at an average of 23.66 and a strike rate of 107.57 in five innings in the tournament.

Talking about Suryakumar Yadav's batting form ahead of the marquee clash, Aaron said on ESPN Cricinfo (5:27):

"He should change his tactics a little bit because he is a player who can play really well down the ground as well. So he should maybe switch it around and go straight down the ground and then go behind. We've seen even in the IPL that Surya prefers faster wickets compared to the slow wickets. He even prefers the faster bowlers than those that bowl slowed ones."

Aaron added:

"He sets up in a way where he can use the pace and his wrists to carve you through the offside. And the moment he starts hitting you behind the wicket, as a bowler you almost get sucked into his plan and then he dictates what you are doing. But he hasn't been able to dictate in this tournament."

Surya has been on an extended dry spell with the bat in T20Is since taking over as permanent captain in the middle of last year. The veteran batter has averaged under 20 in 21 innings with only two half-centuries in this period.

"Abhishek Sharma is once again going to try and dominate that contest" - Aakash Chopra

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra believes the in-form Abhishek Sharma will look to dominate Pakistan's ace pacer Shaheen Afridi for a third time in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. The southpaw's domination of the Pakistan seamer in the powerplay played a massive role in India's convincing wins over their arch-rivals in the group stage and the Super Fours.

Abhishek has scored 31 off 14 deliveries against Afridi in the previous two India-Pakistan contests.

"Abhishek Sharma is once again going to try and dominate that contest. But it might not be as simple as this is one of his first big final. Playing a final is a different experience and that too it is his first multinational tournament for the country. He has done exceedingly well. He is not going to shun his natural attacking approach because that's what has got him so much of success," said Chopra (via the aforementioned source).

He continued:

"I still expect Abhishek Sharma to be the same agressive Abhishek Sharma. It remains to be seen how Shaheen is building from the confidence he has got from the last two games. If he's not taken down initially, he's a different bowler. But what if Abhishek actually wins that first little contest? There will be all eyes on it because it could be a deciding factor in this game."

Abhishek is the leading run-scorer of the ongoing Asia Cup with 309 runs in six games at an average of 51.50 and an incredible strike rate of 204.63.