I would think clear favourites for me are India in Asia Cup 2025: Former Sri Lankan all-rounder

Former Sri Lankan pace bowling all-rounder Farveez Maharoof has revealed that India are strong favourites to win the forthcoming Asia Cup 2025 campaign, which is starting on Tuesday, September 9, in the United Arab Emirates.

It’s worth noting that India has won the Asia Cup eight times, including a title victory in the T20I edition of the competition held in Bangladesh in 2016. The upcoming Asia Cup 2025 campaign is India’s second T20I series of the year after defeating England by 4-1 earlier in January.

"I would think clear favourites for me are India, looking at how their side is. Dark horses for me, I'll say Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. One big reason is that in big tournaments, it's about (the performance) on that particular day in T20 cricket," Maharoof told IANS.

India will initiate their Asia Cup 2025 campaign against the UAE at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 10. Later, they will take on the arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue on September 14. Their final group stage game is scheduled against Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 19.

Furthermore, he also talked about the best pace attack in the forthcoming eight-team showpiece event, adding that India definitely has a good set-up, thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s inclusion in the squad.

"It's hard to say which pace attack (is best placed). But I think certainly India has a good set-up with Bumrah in. Pakistan is also up there. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are equal. So, probably India and Pakistan are equal, then Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are equal," he added.

India’s squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.

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