Indian players who will make their debut against Pakistan on September 14

A match between India and Pakistan is never just another cricket match. It is the stage where reputations can be changed in a single evening and careers are remembered for decades. India will play Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on September 14. Although there has been a lot of political commotion leading up to the match, cricket fans will be more interested in the up-and-coming players who haven’t yet encountered this rivalry.

Incredibly, even seasoned performers like Shubman Gill and Kuldeep Yadav, regulars in India’s white-ball squads, have never played a T20I against Pakistan. This shows how infrequent these clashes have become outside ICC and ACC tournaments. Well, India and Pakistan haven’t played a bilateral series since 2012/13. However, both Gill and Kuldeep have done well in the ODI format against the Men in Green. Apart from them, a younger crop of India’s new-generation stars will taste the buzz of an India-Pakistan game for the first time.

List of Indian Asia Cup 2025 players who have never played vs Pakistan

• Abhishek Sharma
• Sanju Samson
• Tilak Varma
• Rinku Singh
• Jitesh Sharma

Facing Pakistan for the first time is unlike any other assignment. Although India have dominated the head-to-head battle, winning 10 out of 19 Asia Cup matches against Pakistan (Pakistan have won 6). The geopolitical tension outside the field, the excitement of playing the opposition down and the rarity of the fixture add up to the billing. For youngsters who have come through the IPL and domestic cricket, this could be the ultimate test of temperament.

Three players, namely, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma, are all but likely to start for India on Sunday. That will mean that they will play their first games against Pakistan in the international circuit. Samson, who has been backed immensely by the management, is an international player since 2015 but is yet to face the Men in Green. Meanwhile, Abhishek has made a name for himself in a short period of time with his high-intent strokeplay. He faces the heat of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf for the first time. The same is the case with Tilak, who loves to assert his dominance.