Shubman Gill was appointed as the vice-captain of India's T20I setup.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the squad for the Asia Cup 2025. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the tournament. The Indians will be playing their first match against the hosts on September 10, before taking on arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side, and Shubman Gill will be his deputy. Though the decision to make Gill the vice-captain has raised a lot of eyebrows, it is the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal that is not being taken well by the fans.
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The Board has drafted in the left-handed batter from Mumbai as one of the stand-by players. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna and Riyan Parag were named a stand-by players for the tournament. The Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper was ignored despite being one of the best batters in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Moreover, he led the team into the Final of the league in 2025 after previously having won it with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He scored a whopping 604 runs in 17 matches, with an average of 50.33. To add to that, his strike rate read 175.07 and was the highest run-scorer for his side.
All said and done, the Indian side under Suryakumar Yadav looks a formidable one. Despite Shreyas and Jaiswal missing out, the team will travel to the UAE as favourites for the Asia Cup 2025. The captain and management will have a few jigsaw puzzles to solve ahead of their first clash against the hosts. Apart from just a few slots which need some thinking, the team looks well settled ahead of the tournament. Jasprit Bumrah, India’s spearhead pacer, is expected to play selective games in the tournament.
The inclusion of the Indian red-ball skipper in the side did raise a few eyebrows. On top of that, the vice-captain tag means that he will walk into the playing XI for every game. The very first headache for India’s skipper and the management will revolve around Gill’s spot in the team. In his T20I career, Gill has never batted in a position apart from opening the innings. In 21 innings, he has scored 578 runs at an average of around 30.
But in the IPL 2025, Gill took his numbers to another level. He scored 650 runs in 15 matches for the Gujarat Titans (GT), with a strike rate of almost 156. He averaged 50 with a highest score of 93*, and was involved in multiple match-winning partnerships with Sai Sudharsan. The Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper surely has the potential to thrive in the shortest format, and hasn’t done anything wrong. But with his spot cemented in the playing XI, it will be Sanju Samson on the brink of warming the bench.
Samson has batted at each of the first seven positions in T20Is for India. In 17 matches as an opener, he has scored 522 runs with three hundreds and a fifty. But if he has to open in the Asia Cup 2025, it will be at the cost of pushing Shubman Gill at three. To add to that, India’s plans to have Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma as No.3 and No.4. will have to be pushed a position back.
Having said that, playing the tournament in the subcontinent might favour India. Abhishek Sharma’s ability with the ball in hand will prove handy. And this means that India can play a specialist spinner less to include Samson, if they want to go that way.
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It would not be easy for Sanju Samson to break into the Indian XI on the back of his wicketkeeping as well. The management has chosen Jitesh Sharma as the other wicketkeeping option, and is most likely to start for India. The 31-year-old from Vidarbha was a part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru‘s (RCB) title-winning campaign in IPL 2025. Batting in the lower middle order, he displayed some prolific performances for the franchise. In 15 games, he scored 261 runs, striking at a sublime 176.35. His aggressive shot-making and positive demeanour were crucial to RCB’s chances.
Though Sanju Samson can compete with Jitesh for the wicketkeeper’s role, his batting position would become his nemesis. Samson, as an opener has been a lot more successful in the shortest format. And Jitesh Sharma’s batting position makes him a serious contender for the slot in the Indian side.
Apart from a couple of headaches pertaining to the top seven, the bowling looks very settled. Fast bowlers are expected to have a limited role to play, considering the dry weather conditions. The selectors have included Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana as pacers alongside Jasprit Bumrah. One advantage that India have is a good mix of all-rounders. A lot will depend on Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel in order to create the desired balance.
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
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