India have announced their 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2025, which will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from September 9 to 28. Defending champions India will look to clinch a record-extending ninth title in Asia premier tournament.
The squad features several major changes and one of the big surprises was inclusion of Test team captain Shubman Gill in the side despite him missing the last few white-ball matches. The chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained his absence was due to a scheduling clash between various formats.
The 25-year-old Gill replaced Axar Patel as vice-captain despite missing many T20 matches because of his commitments with the Test and 50-over teams.
It will be interesting to see whether Gill will walk straight back into India’s playing XI in the Asia Cup 2025 or not. In Gill’s absence, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma were given opportunities, and they have done quite well. The chief selector said that he will leave it to the coach and captain to take a call on Gill’s inclusion.
“Captain and coach will take the call on the best balance for the team. Once we get to Dubai, we will have a bit more clarity. More options are available now. Shubman has been in great form anyway for the last few months. So has Sanju. So two good options, along with Abhishek,” said Agarkar in the press conference on Tuesday.
Agarkar was also asked whether Gill’s return to the squad as vice-captain is an indicator that he may take up the leadership mantle in the future.
“He led in T20I (Zimbabwe), and in the Test team, he is already leading, and like Surya mentioned, he was vice-captain in the last T20, so we obviously see some leadership qualities in him, and his form in England was what we were hoping for. He obviously exceeded all our expectations, with the kind of form that he showed with his bat, which is a great sign when there’s so much pressure on you as a captain,” he said.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav, who will lead India in the Asia Cup 2025, was happy to have Gill back and reiterated that the opener was always a key part of the new-look T20I squad.
“In my opinion, the last time Shubman Gill played a T20I for India was when we went to Sri Lanka. When I was leading, he was the vice-captain. That’s where we started the new cycle for the T20 World Cup,” said Suryakumar.
“After that, he got busy with all the Test series. He didn’t get an opportunity to play T20Is because he was busy with Test cricket and the Champions Trophy. He is in the squad and we are happy to have him,” he added.
India will kick off their Asia Cup 2025 campaign on September 10 against UAE in Dubai, followed by a clash with Pakistan at the same venue on September 14, before meeting Oman in Abu Dhabi on 19 September.
India squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Reserves: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal
