No Rinku Singh as star pacer picks Team India's playing XI for Asia Cup 2025

Veteran Indian pacer Mohammad Shami overlooked left-handed batter Rinku Singh as he named his strongest Team India playing XI for the 2025 Asia Cup. The continental tournament kicked off on Tuesday, September 9, and is being played in the T20 format.

The Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian side are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. The Men in Blue face the UAE in their opening encounter on Wednesday, September 10, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Shami's playing XI had Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson as the openers, with vice-captain Shubman Gill as the No. 3. The middle-order consisted of skipper Suryakumar and Tilak Varma.

The seasoned campaigner placed senior all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. He suggested that there could be a toss-up between pace-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

Shami's preferred Indian bowling lineup for the 2025 Asia Cup included pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy. The 35-year-old shared the lineup in his latest YouTube video (at 2:32).

Shami's IND XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav/Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh.

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"His India performance hasn’t been effective" - Former India pacer on Rinku Singh's form in international cricket

Former India cricketer RP Singh noted that Rinku Singh has failed to perform consistently in his last few T20I appearances. He opined that the southpaw wasn't utilized properly by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2025 Indian Premier League.

Singh remarked on his YouTube channel (at 3:52):

"The strike rate that Hardik Pandya plays, the players around him, it’s not like they haven’t performed. Rinku Singh has performed, but his recent form for India isn’t good (67 runs in five innings). Even in the IPL, I think KKR didn’t use him properly. He played in the UPT20 League and performed there (372 runs in 11 innings), batting at No. 4 and 5. But his India performance hasn’t been effective."

Rinku Singh made his T20I debut in August 2023 against Ireland. He has 546 runs to his name in 24 T20I innings at an average and strike rate of 42 and 161.06, respectively.