Shoaib Akhtar and Misbah-ul-Haq shared following thoughts regarding Pakistan squad and Asia Cup 2025:
"We're looking forward to this long tournament. It's a long journey together, about three weeks, so it's going to be really interesting."
"Everybody is really, really sort of pumped for this tournament."
"We're talking about the Asia Cup. Let's talk a little bit about its history and how it started. All of you have been a part of the Asia Cup at some point in your lives and careers."
"Misbah, that 2012 Asia Cup, which Pakistan won, and there was that epic final with Bangladesh, you were there, you experienced that."
"Let's hope it happens a third time, Inshallah, with Pakistan."
"With 'Game On' and the discussion about the Asia Cup, the match today is between Hong Kong and Afghanistan, but we're also looking at all the teams and evaluating which team is stronger and which team is the favorite."
"India is the most brutal side when it comes to the Asia Cup. I feel that the team that will cause problems this time is Afghanistan."
"I think Pakistan looks like a formidable side, but the team that can cause trouble is Afghanistan."
"Group A has India, Pakistan, Oman, and UAE. Group B is quite tough because we've got Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong."
"I believe that we need a fifth bowler... and then, there's also a slight concern about Sahibzada Farhan not scoring runs the way he should. We've seen in domestic cricket that he has problems with the ball coming in... Even Fazalhaq Farooqi, from a good team like Afghanistan, has bowlers who will bring the ball in from up top. So that's also a slight concern; he needs to deal with that."
"How do you see the fast-bowling resources for this Asia Cup? And do you agree with the other panelists that you need to be careful and create the right combination against the stronger teams?"
"I think where India will play their matches, they won't be playing in Sharjah. They'll be playing in Dubai. So in Dubai, you will obviously need three pacers. In this series, the overall conditions were more suitable for spinners. But in the upcoming Asia Cup, which will mostly have matches in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, it's necessary to have a third pacer."