“What exactly was India trying to do?” - Former opener criticizes Men in Blue’s batting shuffle in Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 game against Bangladesh

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has come down hard on Men in Blue for their batting order in the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 game against Bangladesh. The match is being played on Wednesday, September 24, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Sent in to bat first, India openers Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma put on a 77-run partnership off 38 balls. Gill made 29 off 19 deliveries before Shivam Dube’s promotion to No. 3 didn’t go as planned, as the southpaw was dismissed for just two. Meanwhile, Abhishek was brilliant, scoring 75 off 37 balls before being run out.

In the middle order, Suryakumar Yadav scored five off 11 balls at No. 4, Hardik Pandya made 38 at No. 5, followed by Tilak Verma (5) and Axar Patel (10*), all batting ahead of Sanju Samson. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, Chopra expressed his bafflement at India’s batting shuffle and said:

“Well, quite a few things were actually weird. Of course, while Abhishek and Shubman were batting, it looked like a very good batting surface, and you can play through the line, and you could actually hit wherever you wanted to hit. But then the wicket falls, and then the batting order is inexplicable. I mean, what exactly India was trying to do with the batting order is baffling, to say the least.”

“Tilak Verma should have been sent earlier in fact. Because I mean 3 was available, 4 was available. You don't send him, you send Hardik ahead of Tilak. Somebody who's actually looked in quite decent touch in this tournament thus far, whatever opportunities he got. And again, yes Sanju should have been there. But very difficult to understand the thought process behind what they're doing,” he added.

The Men in Blue ended their innings at 168/6 in 20 overs, with Rishad Hossain claiming two wickets for Bangladesh.

---

“I'm really perplexed” - Varun Aaron reacts to India’s batting order against Bangladesh

During the same conversation, former India pacer Varun Aaron also expressed his displeasure with Men in Blue’s batting order, questioning the decision to send Shivam Dube and Axar Patel ahead of Sanju Samson. He said:

“I'm really perplexed with the way they deployed batsmen. They obviously thought they can get Dube on and he'll take down the spinners. But Sanju Samson is another option where he could have been slotted in early today, because we know how he enjoys batting slightly up top. I do not understand it. Axar ahead of Sanju Samson. The man's got 3 T20 centuries in the last year. You've got to cut him some slack.”

“And to be honest, there's not much difference with any of the batsmen when it comes to their strike rate. It's not like we have 4 batsmen who can strike above 150 and we have a couple who can only play runner ball. It's not like that. Every one of those batsmen in the top 8 can really have a good swipe at the ball and strike at a very high strike rate. So, I really don't see any motivation or any motive rather behind so many chops and changes in the batting order,” he added.

Meanwhile, in their chase of 169, at the time of writing, Bangladesh were 75/4 after 11 overs, with Saif Hassan on 40 and Jaker Ali on one at the crease.