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Inside India's Strategies: 3 Big Pakistan Weaknesses SKY And Co Will Try To Expose

Probuddha Bhattacharjee

Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir [Source: AFP Media]Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir [Source: AFP Media]

India have started their Asia Cup 2025 campaign with a dismissive show against the UAE. While the game highlighted the gulf in difference between India and their opposition, it also brought to light some of the tactical and strategic decisions that they might deploy against their arch-rivals in the upcoming game. 

In this article, we build on India's strong showing and analyse Pakistan's recent performances to identify the weak points that the 'Men In Blue' can exploit on the 14th of September.

Early Strikes in the Powerplay

The Achilles' heel for the Pakistan has been their powerplay batting, where they have lost either of their openers in the first three overs in four out of five recent games. The opening pair of Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub has not delivered the consistency expected of them, putting the middle-order under pressure on most occasions. 

India's plan of attack should be simple: attack with the ball from the very first delivery.

Probable Plan For Pakistan Openers: If India opt to go with Arshdeep Singh, then the left-arm seamer should start over the wicket to Saim Ayub, using his natural shape to take the ball away from the left-hander.

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah can start by testing Sahibzada Farhan with back-of-length delivery around the off stump line with his occasional toe-crushers.

Suryakumar Yadav and his men should have one fixed target in their mind: pick up two wickets in the powerplay, and the pressure would automatically build on them.

Spin Stranglehold In Middle Overs

In the recently completed tri-series, the Afghan spinners exposed the struggles of Pakistan's middle-order. In one of the games, Pakistan lost seven of their eight wickets to the spinners, while in another, they managed to score 68 runs on six wickets across 12 overs of spin. This exposes a damning indictment of their rotation against spin bowling.

India need to deploy a spin-heavy approach in the middle overs with Kuldeep and Varun Chakaravarthy. The crucial part for Surya would be how he plans the match-ups. With the quality of spinners, India must target to keep the scoring rate of the Pakistan batters below 7 runs per over while going for at least three wickets in the phase. 

Death Overs Volatility

The death over performance of Pakistan has been chaotic from both batting and bowling perspectives. In a recent game against the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan leaked 36 runs in just 3.4 overs, turning a moderate score into a challenging 176.  

Even their premier bowler, Haris Rauf, has found it challenging to maintain consistency. In some games, he has looked like the prime wicket-taker, while in others, he has heepishly leaked runs.

Probable Batting Plan For India: With Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson at the top, there is no doubt that India will have the scoring rate in their innings from very early. However, batters like Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav can look to play a gear lower, keeping wickets intact for the last five overs. With the inconsistency Pakistan's bowling has shown in the death phase, there is no doubt that the Indian finishers would be able to score unprecedentedly in the final few overs.

Probable Bowling Plan For India: While fielding, the full-proof plan would be the use of Bumrah and Arshdeep in the last four, and this is precisely what we might see India doing. However, Surya might also use the variations of Hardik between Bumrah and Arshdeep, allowing for more dynamism and flexibility in the final phase.

Target For India: Either score 50 plus in the final four overs, and restrict Pakistan within 30-35, this would be decisive in the game.

The Blueprint for Victory

The formula for India is very straightforward: strike early with the ball, suffocate in the middle phase with spin, and then capitalise in the death overs.

Gautam Gambhir has demonstrated that India, under his leadership, will play aggressive cricket. So, go all out, hit them where it hurts the most and give Pakistan no scope to get even a slight edge in the game.