India vs Pakistan: Decoding Better Probable Playing XIs For Asia Cup 2025

Suryakumar Yadav and Shaheen Shah Afridi [Source: AFP Media]

The Asia Cup is drawing close, and the 2025 edition of the tournament will be played in the T20 format. As the event draws close, even though shrouded by clouds, the face-off between Indian and Pakistan also draws close. 

As the teams prepare themselves to play against each other on the field, we take a look at the probable XIs of them and compare to find which combination looks stronger on paper.

Method

To compare the playing XIs of the two teams, we will use a method where we consider the prime components of the trades. In case of batting - Strike Rate, Average and Boundary Percentage have been considered.

For bowling, Average, Strike Rate and Economy Rate is considered. For all-rounders we have combined the two indices and normalised it.

Batters

In case of batting index of the two teams, there are five batters in each side. If we average the values, then we can see that the Indian batters outweigh the Pakistan batters by three points. 

Verdict: Overall efficiency of the Indian batting line-up is better than Pakistan.

Average batting index: India - 13.16, Pakistan - 10.06

All-rounders

If we see the two playing XIs we see that Pakistan have one player more in this category. So, in case of the pure total, they have the advantage over India. However, if we consider the average efficiency of each player, the 'Men In Blue' outweigh their neighbours in this case also.

Verdict: In case of the all-rounders too, the efficiency of the Indian team is more than that of the Pakistan playing XI.

Average all-rounder index: India - 10.8, Pakistan - 9.76

Bowlers

In case of the bowling department, India have one bowler more. The total of bowling index in this case is in favour of the 'Men in Blue'. However, in average Pakistan are better than India in this case.

Verdict: The bowling efficiency of Pakistan is better than that of India.

Average Bowler index: India - 19.70, Pakistan - 20.43

Conclusion

When we see the three departments of the two teams, we can see that India are better in the batting and all-rounder section. However, in case of bowling Pakistan are ahead of India. Since, India have the advantage in two departments, we can say that the probable XI of the 'Men in Blue' are better than that of their arch-rivals.

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