India’s highly anticipated squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was announced on Tuesday with skipper Suryakumar Yadav and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar addressing a press conference in Mumbai. Amid heavy rainfall in the city, the media interaction took place and the squad was announced. Batter Shubman Gill, who brilliantly led India against England in his maiden stint as the Test captain, was uncertain about his spot in the Asia Cup squad. However, the fans were left utterly surprised after he was not only picked but also named as the vice captain of the team.
Gill’s last T20 match was against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in 2024 and he has now replaced Axar Patel as the deputy of skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
“Gill’s form in England was something we expected but he exceeded it all,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said during the squad announcement press conference
The right-handed batter’s entry blocked the way for Shreyas Iyer, who was a strong contender for a spot in the team. Iyer made headlines with his brilliant captaincy in IPL 2024, where he guided Kolkata Knight Riders to the title, followed by taking Punjab Kings to final in 2025.
Speaking on Iyer’s omission, Agarkar said, “It’s very unfortunate for Yashasvi Jaiswal, with Abhishek doing well, he can bowl as well – one of the two was going to miss out – same with Shreyas, not his fault”.
“With respect to Shreyas Iyer, who can he replace? It’s no fault of his, but neither ours.”
Iyer continued to dominate ODI cricket this year, finishing as India’s top run-getter and overall second-highest run-getter in their CT 2025 title win, scoring 243 runs in five matches and innings at an average of 48.60 with two half-centuries and a best score of 79.
Apart from Iyer, there were some lingering doubts on Bumrah’s availability largely due to the proximity to the home Test series against the West Indies in October.
But the selectors opted to pick and this will be Bumrah’s first T20 tournament since last year’s World Cup.
India squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.
(With PTI Inputs)