Finance
In a stunning return to the T20I setup, India Test captain Shubman Gill will feature in India’s Asia Cup side as the vice-captain as the BCCI announced a 15-member side for the continental event, due to begin in the UAE on September 9.
The Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI men’s selection committee put all speculations to rest by naming Shubman Gill in India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025. After an outstanding performance as captain and batsman in the five-match Test series in England, Gill—who missed all three of India’s previous bilateral Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa, Bangladesh, and England—found his way back into the mix. At an average of 75, Gill amassed a record 754 runs. The 25-year-old was selected to be the team’s vice-captain under Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership.
Gill was the team’s deputy captain during that series against Sri Lanka, however that was his final Twenty20 International in July 2024. During Tuesday’s press conference, Suryakumar and head selector Ajit Agarkar made several references to this. Prior to that, he played his maiden T20I series as India’s captain in Zimbabwe. The selectors chose to exclude Gill from the shortest formats even though he was a crucial player of the ODI and Test teams. There was never going to be any question about Gill’s place in a major competition like the Asia Cup.
The performance of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson as an opening combination without Gill was what really sparked the argument. With a couple of hundreds apiece, Abhishek and Sanju essentially guaranteed their spots in the T20I XI. However, the selectors have chosen to rely on Gill’s caliber.
Gill has developed a strong T20 resume over time, displaying both flair and consistency. He has amassed 578 runs at a respectable strike rate of 139.27 and an average of 30.42 in 21 T20 Internationals, including three fifties and a century. In the IPL 2025, he demonstrated his ability to both anchor and accelerate by scoring 650 runs in 15 innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 155.87, including six fifties. Gill is notably one of the few Indians to have scored hundreds in each of the three international forms.
India Asia Cup 2025 Squad List: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Standbys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel.
