"Will be batting higher than No.11" - Former RCB pacer's cheeky take on Suryakumar Yadav ahead of IND vs SL Asia Cup 2025 clash

Former pacer Varun Aaron jokingly suggested that India skipper Suryakumar Yadav will resort to any major experiments regarding game time for batters during the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 stage dead rubber match against Sri Lanka. The ace batter had demoted himself to No.11 in the batting order during India's last low-stakes match in the group stage against Oman.

Barring the set opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, India have opted for a fluid batting order, with game situation and providing game time for batters often being the priority over set positions. Suryakumar Yadav has largely come out to bat at No.3 in the tournament except for the aforementioned match against Oman and during the recent win over Bangladesh.

Since India had already qualified for the Super 4 stage ahead of their group stage match against Oman, Sanju Samson was sent in at No.3. Despite the batting collapse in the middle overs, the skipper stayed put as all of the remaining batters, and even bowlers were sent in ahead of him during the first innings. Ultimately, with India finishing with 188-8 after 20 overs, he remained the sole player not to step out to bat.

Varun Aaron stated that with Suryakumar Yadav chasing form ahead of the final against Pakistan, he will certainly not meddle with his position in the batting order against Sri Lanka.

"There is a big box called Suryakumar Yadav, which he would like to tick before a final. You rarely see Suryakumar Yadav, someone of that quality, stay silent almost for a whole tournament. He will be batting a little higher than No.11 for sure this time," Varun Aaron said on ESPN Cricinfo.

Suryakumar Yadav has scored 59 runs in four innings in the Asia Cup 2025 at an average of 29.50 and a strike rate of 111.32.

"They might not even make any changes" - Varun Aaron on Team India's playing XI for Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 match against Sri Lanka

Varun Aaron feels like India have gone overboard with their experimentation as fas the batting order is concerned, and urged them to largely stick with the same combination and approach as before.

"I don't think they should make such wholesale changes. They might not even make any changes, you never know, but if any, the only change would be Arshdeep for Bumrah. There has been too much shuffling around in the batting lineup," Varun Aaron added.

Team India are unbeaten in the 2025 Asia Cup campaign, and confirmed their spot in the final following the win over Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday, September 24.