Shubman Gill was named the India vice-captain for Asia Cup 2025.
Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the BCCI’s decision to hand over vice-captaincy to Shubman Gill for Asia Cup 2025.
Ashwin also expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer from the squad for the continental tournament. Gill, in fact, has not played a T20I for India since July 2024, when the Men in Blue had faced Sri Lanka. And while Jaiswal is on the list of standby players, Iyer, however, has been dropped altogether.
However, he had a productive season with Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2025, scoring 650 runs from 15 matches, that included six half-centuries.
“Genuinely, Shubman Gill’s selection is okay. He has been announced as the vice-captain. All that aside, actually he made quite a lot of runs for Gujarat Titans in the IPL, and he has he credentials to be selected in the team.
“Team selections are always debatable, it has been for the last 20-30 years. “This could have been the case, that could have been the case”, there are several talking points. This happens everywhere, including Australia and South Africa,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show Ash Ki Baat during a conversation with journalist Vimal Kumar.
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Jaiswal was part of the Indian team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup, but he did not get a game with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being the primary openers. Gill, on the other hand, was not part of that squad.
“When you have Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli who have gone to win the World Cup, and you have Jaiswal as your third opener for that World Cup. You have removed a member of a World Cup-winning team and got in Shubman Gill into the team. I am happy for Shubman, but I am very, very, very sad for Shreyas and Yashasvi Jaiswal. It’s not fair on both those kids,” added the cricketer from Tamil Nadu.
He then questioned the need for a single captain across all the formats. “Of course, they (BCCI selectors) would have thought that Shubman Gill is a leadership potential for the future, and maybe Shubman Gill could be the all-format captain.
“But we are in a situation where there is a different captain for every format. You can keep a captain in different formats, like Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) is the captain of T20I cricket, you have Shubman Gill in Test cricket. I know you have to make maps forward, but what less is Shreyas Iyer?,” he asked.
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cricketer further explained Shreyas Iyer’s credentials as a skipper. The Mumbai cricketer led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL title in 2024, and also led Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the IPL final this year. Punjab Kings, however, lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the final.
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“He did brilliantly well for KKR, led them to the IPL title. He was sent into the auction. He then took Punjab to the finals for the first time since 2014. He overcame the short ball problem. He was hitting the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah with ease in the IPL,” noted the 38-year-old.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side are in Group A for the Asia Cup 2025, which will be held in the T20 format ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue will face UAE in Dubai on September 10, before locking horns against Pakistan at the same venue four days later. India will then face Oman in Abu Dhabi on September 19 in their final group stage match.
India are the defending champions of the Asia Cup, having beaten Sri Lanka in the final of the 2023 edition, which took place in the ODI format ahead of the 50-over World Cup later that year.
