Upholding their theme of continuity in leadership with an eye on the future, national selectors Ajit Agarkar & Co. have reinstated Shubman Gill to India’s T20I team for the Asia Cup, going to the extent of elevating him as the vice-captain.
The decision will be debated considering that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer are in the reserves. Both are undeniably far more flamboyant than Gill, especially Jaiswal whose game is tailored for this format.
“Last time when he played T20 post the World Cup, when we went to Sri Lanka, he (Gill) was the vice-captain. That’s where we started a new cycle for the T20WC. After that, we got busy with Test cricket, and he didn’t get opportunities. We’re happy to have him,” India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav explained in a media gathering in Mumbai.
“It’s unfortunate. With what Abhishek (Sharma) has done over the last year or so, plus he gives us a bowling option that is required. One of these guys was always going to miss out,” chairman of selectors Agarkar said in the media conference.
Abhishek Nayar, former India assistant coach, tried to rationalise Iyer’s omission: “Can’t fathom how Iyer misses out from a 20-member long list. Maybe they aren’t looking at him from a T20 prism. Any selection is about who you like a little more than another, and that can be a tipping point sometimes. Maybe Iyer is not liked as someone else is, maybe,” he was quoted as saying.
There were other close selections such as Rinku Singh over Washington Sundar, who is in a rich vein of form with the bat. “He’s always been in the scheme of things. At the moment, we have two mystery spinners and wrist-spinners in Varun and Kuldeep (Yadav), and Axar (Patel) has been around for a while. When we need four spinners – he may always be in the mix. For now, we felt we needed an extra batter in Rinku. And you could only pick 15. If there were 16, maybe he could’ve been in,” Agarkar said.
Sanju Samson has been confirmed as the primary wicketkeeper. Jitesh Sharma has been retained as the second glove-man. Dhruv Jurel has missed out.
Jitesh’s finishing displays during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 title victory may have influenced his selection.
The tournament, set to take place in the UAE from 9 to 28 September, marks India’s return to T20Is since their home series against England early this year.
India will kick off their campaign against the UAE in Dubai on September 10, followed by a high-profile match against Pakistan at the same venue on September 14.
India’s final group game is scheduled against Oman in Abu Dhabi on September 19.
The squad:
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Stand-bys:
Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal
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