‘Have to wait…’: Indian legend predicts either Rinku Singh or Shivam Dube will sit out from Asia Cup matches

The Asia Cup 2025 is around the corner, with India’s series opener being against United Arab Emirates (UAE) on September 10. The team management is already under the query of whether to take Sanju Samson or Jitesh Sharma as the wicketkeeper-batter, now former Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has stated that one from Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube will also have to sit out.

Sunil Gavaskar had previously shared his views about the wicketkeeper-batter topic, but he also shared his views about one player from Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube needing to be left out from the playing XI. He stated that Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will feature as spinners, with Harshit Rana being specialist pacer.

“With Axar Patel also likely to play in this side as a left-hander and somebody who can bowl good four overs, it looks like somebody like Rinku and Shivam might have to wait a bit before they get an opportunity. My feeling is that they might not extend the batting to No. 8 and look for the bowlers, maybe Kuldeep at 8 and then 9, 10, 11, your 3 fast bowlers,” said Sunil Gavaskar.

The Asia Cup 2025 is set to be held in the T20 format. On that note, comparing the 20-over batting stats of Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube leads the weight going a bit towards Rinku’s side. He has played in 24 innings of 33 matches for India and scored 546 runs, with 69* being his highest score. Shivam has played 26 innings of 35 matches and scored 531 runs, with 63* being his highest score.