‘Might win Asia Cup with this team but not T20 World Cup’: World Cup winner questions selection of three undeserving cricketers

The 15-member Indian cricket lineup for the 2025 Asia Cup, which begins on September 9, has gotten varied comments from both fans and past players. Almost all cricket analysts believe that two players, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal, deserve to be selected.

While Jaiswal was chosen as one of the five reserve players, Iyer was completely disregarded. Kris Srikkanth, the 1983 World Cup winner, stated the Asia Cup squad’s inclusion of Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, and Harshit Rana is baffling to him.

The former BCCI top selector stated that while India may win the Asia Cup with their current roster, it may not benefit them in next year’s T20 World Cup.

“We might win the Asia Cup with this team, but there is no chance of winning the T20 World Cup with this bunch,” said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.

“Are you going to take this team to the World Cup? Is this the preparation for the T20 World Cup, which is hardly six months away? They have gone backwards. Axar Patel has been axed from vice-captaincy. I don’t know how Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Harshit Rana have come in. IPL is considered the main criteria for selection, but the selectors seem to have considered performances before that,” he added.

Rinku had a brilliant start to his T20 career for the Indian team. However, his performances have dipped alarmingly. Even in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rinku’s performances have spiralled. In IPL 2025, the southpaw scored just 206 runs in 13 matches at an average of 29.43.

Dube didn’t have a great outing in the T20 World Cup last year.

Apart from an important cameo in the final, the Mumbai all-rounder failed to make a mark. He blew hot and cold during IPL 2025, scoring 357 runs in 14 matches at an average of 32.45 and a strike rate of 132.22.