Predicted Pakistan Playing XI vs India: Unchanged for Asia Cup match or will Haris Rauf return?

Pakistan beat India in their last T20 Asia Cup encounter in 2022 but since then India has become a much stronger side, who have lost just 2 of their last 16 matches.

Under Salman Ali Agha and Mike Hesson, it looks like Pakistan have finally cracked the modern T20I code. The word ‘intent’ has entered their dictionary. From defensive and safe batting, they are evolving into an all-out attack batting unit. Considered a bowling-heavy team, the Men in Green have become a much more balanced team.

All-rounders have replaced bowlers, giving them a variety of bowling options and batting depth. We have seen England, Australia, and India already adopt this approach. Now, it’s Pakistan finally catching up as well. Haris Rauf, who was one of their best wicket-takers, was dropped against Oman to accommodate pace-bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.

3 frontline bowlers enough against India?

Pakistan has been using this approach for a little while now. But the question is, will they do so against India on September 14 in the T20 Asia Cup 2026? The No. 1-ranked T20I team have taken their batting to another level. In the last 12 months, India have recorded two totals over 280.

Therefore, the dilemma that Agha and Hesson would face would be around what sort of bowling unit they want. India has the likes of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma, the two top-ranked T20I batters in the world. India’s Suryakumar Yadav is ranked sixth.

Can Pakistan afford to play just three frontline bowlers against such a team? Will Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Sufiyan Muqeem be able to do enough damage? Against Oman, it worked well. But they aren’t anywhere close to India in terms of batting quality.

Pakistan to go unchanged?

But Pakistan does have the luxury of having great all-rounders. Saim Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz, and Faheem Ashraf are the three options they have. Agha also fits the bill, but he hasn’t used himself enough. The three mentioned above have been exceptional. Nawaz recently took a hat-trick. Faheem took a 4-wicket haul against Afghanistan earlier this month, while Saim is a good powerplay bowler who can bowl a doosra as well.

All things suggest that Hesson and Agha won’t change the lineup. They did lose Haris in the tri-series against Afghanistan and the UAE, but the conditions are very spin-friendly at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Going with five potential spinners and two pacers, one of which is an all-rounder, seems like a good tactic. Mind you, India will be doing something similar as well.

Predicted Pakistan Playing XI vs India

Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem

Bench: Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Salman Mirza