Former Indian cricketer Nikhil Chopra opines that Pakistan’s present T20 team does not have the star power of the mythical 1990s team, and even die-hard fans might find it difficult to recall the new faces.
Pakistan are in transition for the current Asia Cup, having excluded senior members Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Salman Ali Agha now captains a young team with Saim Ayub, Mohammad Harris, and Hasan Nawaz, while the experienced ones include Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Fakhar Zaman.
And no disrespect to the Pakistan team, but if you see their side and ask any street kid to tell you his top three or top four players, some of these kids, even ardent cricket lovers who watch the T20 version, won’t be able to recall their names. But ask them about Pakistan ’90s cricket heroes, they will remember,” Chopra told NDTV, highlighting the difference in recognition between generations.
Chopra compared Pakistan’s team with India’s and lauded the latter’s depth and established match-winning quality of players in the Indian team. “The difference is, when you look at the 11 or you look at the 15 for India, there are match winners, experienced players, and world-beating stars. The Indian team, whether you look at it in an IPL context or simply look at T20 performances, is loaded with talent. Someone like Yashasvi Jaiswal has not even received a chance in the 15, so just think of the good headache Ajit Agarkar and the rest of the management have,” he added.
India demonstrated that strength in their first Asia Cup 2025 match, reducing UAE for only 57 in 13.1 overs. Four wickets were claimed by Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube claimed three, and the openers Abhishek Sharma and vice-captain Shubman Gill ran down the target in a mere 4.3 overs.
