India Squad for Asia Cup 2025: Gill Returns as Vice-Captain, Jaiswal in Reserves

Shubman Gill has returned to India’s T20I squad for the Asia Cup and has been named vice-captain in place of Axar Patel.

The 15-member team, announced by the selectors on Tuesday, will be led by Suryakumar Yadav. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are also in the mix as opening options, but with Gill as deputy to the captain, he is most likely to take one of the opening spots.

"We obviously see some leadership qualities in him, and his form in England was what we were hoping for. [He] exceeded all our expectations, which is a great sign when there's so much pressure as captain," chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said in Mumbai.

Gill returns as vice-captain; Jaiswal misses out on Asia Cup squad

India’s middle and lower-order batting will be handled by Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma. Jitesh could also be the main wicketkeeper if Gill and Abhishek open the innings. The squad has three allrounders, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube. In bowling, the main choices are Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana, with Rana adding a bit of batting strength as well.

There was no place for Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was instead among the five reserve players, along with Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel. Shreyas Iyer, who scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175 in IPL 2025 and led Punjab Kings to the final, also did not find a place in the 15.

"With regard to Yashasvi, it's just unfortunate again. There's Abhishek Sharma: what he's done over the last year or so - plus he can bowl a little bit - he gives us that option if required. One of these guys was going to miss out. Yashasvi just has to wait for his chance," Agarkar said.

"With regard to Shreyas, who can he replace? No fault of his, nor is it ours. At the moment, you can just pick 15. So he will have to wait for his chance," he added.

Shubman Gill was the vice-captain in India’s T20I series against Sri Lanka in July 2024, but after that he wasn’t picked for the following series as the team management wanted to focus on using him more in Tests and ODIs. In his absence, Axar Patel was made vice-captain for the home T20Is against England in January.

India’s 15-Member Squad for Asia Cup

Gill has now returned to the T20I squad thanks to his strong performances this year. He played a key role in India’s Champions Trophy win and was outstanding in the five-Test series in England, where he scored heavily and led the team to a 2-2 draw in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. On top of that, he had an excellent IPL season for Gujarat Titans, scoring 650 runs at a strike rate of 155.87.

"Last time when he [Gill] played T20 for India, post T20 World Cup when we went to Sri Lanka - not Zimbabwe - when I was leading, he was the vice-captain. So that's where we started a new cycle. After that, he got busy with all the Test series, and he didn't get an opportunity to play T20s because he was busy playing Test cricket and Champions Trophy. So he's there in the squad, and we're happy to have him," Suryakumar said after the selection meeting in Mumbai.

The Asia Cup will be India’s first T20I tournament since the home series against England in January. India are placed in Group A with Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE. They start their campaign against the UAE in Dubai on September 10, followed by the much-awaited clash with Pakistan at the same venue on September 14. Their last group match will be against Oman in Abu Dhabi on September 19.

"This is the first big tournament we are playing since the [2024] T20 World Cup. We have played three-four bilateral series. It's a good tournament to test ourselves. After this, there are a lot of T20s - close to 20-22 T20s in total - before we play our first game in the [2026] World Cup, so I think the journey starts from the Asia Cup," Suryakumar said.

India's squad for the Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson.

Reserve players: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal

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