India have already secured a spot in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2025, but former cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has suggested an interesting idea: why not send an India A team as well? Chopra explained that Afghanistan, considered the second-best team in Asia after India, are struggling with their batting in the tournament. “Bangladesh is still alive after beating Afghanistan, but Afghanistan are finding it tough to bat. The bowling is fine, fielding is okay, but the batting is the problem,” he said. Chopra also compared India’s setup with Pakistan. He noted that Pakistan’s batting lineup is weaker than India’s second string. “If you compare Pakistan’s batting with India A, our second team is probably stronger. Pakistan doesn’t really have match-winners across the board like we do,” he said. He drew parallels with Australia’s past strategy, where Australia A participated in a quadrangular series in 1994 alongside the main team. The Australia A side went on to beat England and Zimbabwe, reaching the final. Chopra believes a similar approach could benefit India, giving match practice and exposure to young players while maintaining a strong main team. He suggested a strong India A squad could include players like Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, and Yuzvendra Chahal. Chopra believes this would give India an edge and help develop future match-winners. Chopra also highlighted that India’s current senior team is dominant in both batting and bowling, but giving exposure to a second team could ensure that talented players don’t miss out due to limited slots.
