Former India opener and chief selector Kris Srikkanth has said that the Indian team have no chance of defending their T20 World Cup title if they back the squad picked for the Asia Cup 2025 as well. Slamming the selectors over the 15-man squad named for the eight-nation event in the UAE, he said that the team seems to be going backwards instead of moving forward as well.

Speaking on his YouTube channel ‘Cheeky Cheeka’, he said: “We might win the Asia Cup with this team, but there is no chance of winning the T20 World Cup with this bunch. Are you going to take this team to the World Cup? Is this the preparation for the T20 World Cup, which is hardly six months away?”

“They have gone backwards. Axar Patel has been axed from vice-captaincy. I don’t know how Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Harshit Rana have come in. IPL is considered the main criteria for selection, but the selectors seem to have considered performances before that,” he further added.

While reviewing Team India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad, Kris Srikkanth also added that the team lacks balance. While talking about the No. 5 spot, he said that Shreyas Iyer’s absence would weaken the middle-order batting as well.

‘Who will bat at No. 5? Five has to be either Sanju Samson, Jitesh Sharma or Shivam Dube or Rinku Singh. Hardik Pandya usually bats at No. 5, so now, Patel Axar cannot bat at six. I can’t understand how they picked Dube. Yashasvi Jaiswal have performed in international cricket and IPL as well. What does he do?,” Kris Srikkanth concluded.