“I will take Shivam Dube out to bring Arshdeep in” - Ex-Indian spinner makes an interesting change in playing XI for Pakistan clash

Former Indian spinner and analyst Murali Kartik has stated that he would like to bring in Arshdeep Singh in the place of Shivam Dube for Team India’s second game of the Asia Cup 2025 campaign against Pakistan on Sunday, September 14.

Speaking exclusively on Cricbuzz, Kartik has asserted that the Indian team should go with one batter less and he gave away his key reasons behind his statement. He also revealed the reason why Axar Patel shouldn’t be omitted from the playing XI.

"I will take Shivam Dube out to bring Arshdeep in. Because Axar gives you both, he can be the floater and play against seam-bowling as well. If you are keeping Shivam Dube to predominantly only play the spinners, then he is wasted. With Arshdeep, even though it's one batter less, the responsibility goes up and you've got a quality bowling attack which is well-rounded,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz.

Furthermore, Kartik also revealed the actual reason behind India opting to bowl first, adding that they don’t want to be out there for a long time with more games lined-up in the eight-team showpiece event.

"Sometimes as a team, you decide you don't want to be out there in the heat for too long. You've got games coming. And if everyone is happy with their game and within the team if there is a unanimous decision, you go with that. You want to prepare for the way you want to play going forward. And India would have wanted to be ruthless and merciless against a team like the UAE and that's exactly what they were," he added.

India will next take on their arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, September 14 before their last group stage game against Oman on Tuesday, September 19.

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