'Targetting Certain Players?': Netizens Baffled As Arshdeep Singh Axed For Team India's Asia Cup 2025 Opener vs UAE

Team India seamer Arshdeep Singh's exclusion from the playing XI of the Asia Cup game against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Dubai International Stadium has drawn plenty of backlash among the netizens. With Arshdeep being the highest T20I wicket-taker for India, he didn't receive nod despite that.

Arshdeep looked to be a shoo-in in the XI for the game against UAE. The left-arm seamer has had a meteoric rise in T20I cricket since his debut in the format in June 2022. With 99 wickets in 63 matches, the 26-year-old is the highest T20I wicket-taker for India. He was also instrumental in Team India's T20 World Cup triumph last year and would've likely shared the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.

Instead, the Men in Blue have gone with a spin-heavy attack, including Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.

Watch some of the netizens' reactions:

Suryakumar Yadav wins toss and opts to bowl first in Dubai

Earlier, Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav had won the toss and opt to bowl first at the Dubai International Stadium in their Asia Cup 2025 opener against the UAE. Sanju Samson has been included in the playing XI after plenty of deliberation and is likely to come in at No.4. The 34-year-old cited dew as the factor behind wanting to bowl.

United Arab Emirates (Playing XI): Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra(w), Asif Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Haider Ali, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Junaid Siddique, Simranjeet Singh.

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.