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All that went wrong for IND A after PAK A gave brutal reality check with 8-wicket rout

Soumyajit Dutta

India A lost to Pakistan Shaheens in Asia Cup Rising Stars match [Source: @BCCI/X.com]India A lost to Pakistan Shaheens in Asia Cup Rising Stars match [Source: @BCCI/X.com]

For what it's worth, Pakistan Shaheens had a dominating outing against India A in their first encounter in the Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025, and it was a treat to watch youngsters of the Men in Green come out in form after a long while.

Maaz Sadaqat, the hero of Shaheen's campaign, was the nightmare for India, which led to Pakistan's 8-wicket win at Doha on Sunday. However, there were loopholes from India's side. There were blemishes that can't be smoothed out with surface-level polishing.

The dent Pakistan A left on India A's confidence at just the very beginning of the tournament is going to haunt them for long. Fixing them as soon as possible is what the young, star-studded team should focus on. Here's a detailed look into what exactly went wrong with India A's performance on November 16 at the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament.

Only Suryavanshi survives; the rest of the stars crumbled

On a Doha pitch that looked pretty flat, before getting spin purchase until the second innings, only Vaibhav Suryavanshi managed to get some respectable scores. Coming in to bat first, India A managed to put up 136 on the board, and the major chunk of it came from the bat of the 14-year-old RR wonderkid.

Suryavanshi scored 45 off 28 balls, while PBKS star Priyansh Arya (10 runs), Nehal Wadhera, and RCB's Jitesh Sharma, all of whom are known for their firepower in IPL, collapsed for single-digit scores.

Middle order in tatters

The middle order crumbled like a house of cards after Suryavanshi left the crease at 91/3 at the end of 9.4 overs. In between 39 balls, India A lost 4 wickets, thanks to disciplined efforts from Maaz Sadaqat, Saad Masood, and Pakistan's pick of the bowlers, Shahid Aziz (3/24).

Zero confidence in batting, pressure pinching in, and giving up on the intent are the causes of the quick downfall of the 'otherwise performing' IND A talents.

Disastrous bowling from both the pace and spin departments

13 wide balls and a boundary from a leg bye that was turned outside the leg stump by Suyash Sharma, account for a total of 17 extra runs from India's side, that too in a contest where the target on a flat track is not even 140+.

Naman Dhir, who bowls occasionally, was given two overs to bowl and was welcomed rightly by the PAK players. He conceded 27 runs from just 8 balls. Free runs, as they say. There was a lot of expectation from Gurjapneet Singh too, who failed to deliver and went wicketless, giving away 28 runs from his 3 overs.

Mystery spinner Suyash Sharma, who had quite a name during his IPL debut for KKR, gave away 31 runs from his 4 overs and bagged only a single wicket. Yash Thakur and Harsh Dubey weren't decent performers either.

Overall, India had it all wrong with the ball, as Pakistan Shaheens piled up almost half the chasing total inside the powerplay by losing just one wicket.

Worrisome fielding that gave away golden chances

To add to the bowling woes, there were fielding lapses as well. Be it an instance where Vaibhav Suryavanshi dropped a sitter of Maaz Sadaqat (the real threat) early in the game or the infamous bunny hop catch from Nehal Wadhera that raised controversy after it was declared not out.

Lack of communication was also clear on the field as Jitesh Sharma rammed into Yash Thakur while the latter attempted to palm the catch of Yasir Khan. No catch calls and brain-fade moments marred India A's lacklustre display against the neighbours.

Conclusion

Moreover, these are points of concern for India A if they want to develop around the tournament and come out as one of the top two teams in the group stage.

Clearer communication on the field, better captaincy calls with the ball, and no over-reliance on Vaibhav Suryavanshi's opening charisma should do the trick for the young Men in Blue who are on their way to beat former and defending champions of the tournament.