"It will come straightaway in the final" - Aakash Chopra on India's biggest challenge in Asia Cup 2025

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Men in Blue's biggest challenge in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 will come directly in the final. He reasoned that it would be a knockout game, with the conditions not being batting-friendly.

India thrashed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by nine wickets in their Group A opener in Dubai on Wednesday, September 10. They will face Pakistan in their second group game at the same venue on Sunday, September 14.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener was asked about the biggest challenge Suryakumar Yadav and company could face in the Asia Cup 2025.

"I feel it will come straightaway in the final because that will be a knockout game. This is a challenging format. This is the T20 format, the targets have been small, and it has not been a 200-plus tournament," he responded (7:35).

Chopra added that the nature of the surfaces in the UAE has reduced the gap between teams.

"If this had been a 200-plus tournament, there would have been such a huge difference between the other teams and India. We would have been miles ahead of everyone else, but that's not the case. It's been 150 to 160-run matches. So the teams come closer to each other," he observed.

Afghanistan's 188/6 against Hong Kong China in Abu Dhabi has been the highest total in the Asia Cup 2025 thus far. While Pakistan's 160/7 against Oman has been the highest score in Dubai, India didn't get a chance to post a bigger total as they chased a paltry 58-run target in their tournament opener against the UAE.

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"It wasn't the case in the last few games" - Aakash Chopra on the last few IND vs PAK T20Is not being one-sided

India registered a narrow win in their 2024 T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the conditions ensured that India's last few T20I matches against Pakistan weren't one-sided.

"Even if you check out the last few India-Pakistan matches, although it has become one-sided these days, it wasn't the case in the last few games. When it was a match of around 125 runs in New York, it suddenly became close. Even in Melbourne, it wasn't a very high-scoring match," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that low-scoring games bring the teams closer, or else India are far superior to the other teams in the Asia Cup 2025.

"So the smaller the totals get, the closer the teams would come to each other, and that is what is happening, not just with India-Pakistan, but also with any teams. The conditions are bringing the others closer to India, or else India are miles ahead of everyone else in this Asia Cup," Chopra observed.

India beat Pakistan by six runs while defending a 120-run target in New York in the 2024 T20 World Cup. They registered a four-wicket win while chasing a 160-run target against the Men in Green in Melbourne in the 2022 T20 World Cup, with the winning runs coming off the last ball.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer