Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra criticised head coach Gautam Gambhir's strategy in the Asia Cup 2025. The Men in Blue won the tournament by beating Pakistan in the final. As Hardik Pandya was injured and missed the final, they played with Jasprit Bumrah as the only pacer and bowled three overs of Shivam Dube.
Aakash Chopra was not in favor of the strategy and urged the Indian team to play proper bowlers. The team has been following a trend of fielding players who can also bat and leaving out genuine bowlers.
"It was a very radical choice, playing the Asia Cup with just one bowler. I do not agree with Dube bowling in the final," he said on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel.
While Dube did fairly well and returned figures of 0/23 from three overs, the decision could have easily gone against India as well, with him not being a regular bowler.
Among India's top white-ball pacers at the moment, Arshdeep Singh was left out of the final. Notably, Harshit Rana has been preferred over Arshdeep because of his ability to bat well down the order. Chopra reckoned that was the only thing going against Arshdeep, with the team preferring batting depth.
However, he suggested the left-arm pacer to play domestic cricket, pick wickets, and prove his worth to make himself undroppable. Meanwhile, Harshit has been trolled, abused, and his place in the side has been questioned by the fans. While he has been preferred slightly over Arshdeep, Chopra defended Harshit, stating that selection was not in his hands and he would only play as he was picked.
However, he also believed that Arshdeep brought more to the table as a bowler alone than what Harshit could offer with both bat and ball.
"Harshit would be thinking has he selected himself? He does not decide that. Why is he being abused for it? When he is told to do something he will do it. One thing is he is very fortunate to be in the team with less experience. But being abused is not fair on him because he does not control the selection. From India's perspective, they have to make a choice that they wont get a batter at eight if they play Arshdeep with Bumrah. But is Harshit's batting at eight and bowling more than what Arshdeep can give with just his bowling? Arshdeep gives you more as a bowler than Harshit. But they want a batter at eight, so you can understand what they are trying to do, although I do not agree with it," he reflected.
Arshdeep is the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is. He has bagged 105 wickets from 68 matches at an average of 18.59 and an economy of 8.36.
There has also been a debate around star batter Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from the T20I squad. He showed brilliant form in the IPL last year, scoring 604 runs in 17 matches at an average of 50.33 and a strike-rate of 175.07 with six fifties. The right-hander played a key role in taking the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final.
However, he has been considered for India's T20I setup. Aakash Chopra defended the call, stating that Shreyas was unfortunate as there was no place in the side for him at the moment.
"I understand you should play Shreyas in T20Is. But let's say he is in the team, Sruaykumar Yadav will play at three, Tilak at four, Hardik at five. Then where will you make him bat? If you send him below that, you are making him play, but it will not be right. That is why he is not there, because there is no place. There is Axar also then. Shivam is also there. It is a tactical decision. It may be unfortunate, but he is not the first one," he said.
Shreyas has featured in 51 T20Is so far. He has scored 1104 runs at an average of 30.66 and a strike-rate of 136.12 with eight half-centuries. The 30-year-old last played a T20I for India in 2023.