India's Squad for Asia Cup 2025: Who Will Make the Team and Who Will Miss Out?
The Asia Cup-2025 T20 cricket tournament is set to commence on September 9 this year, with the deadline for announcing the 17-member team being August 19. India are set to begin their Asia Cup defence in the UAE on September 9, placed alongside Oman, Pakistan, and hosts UAE in Group A.
Batsmen Selection: Suryakumar Yadav is confirmed as the captain of the T20 team, ensuring his place in the lineup. The team management now needs to select 4 to 6 more batsmen. Contenders for these positions include Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, and Shreyas Iyer.
Notably, Shubman, Yashasvi, and Shreyas were not part of the last T20 series against England, but all three showcased strong performances in the IPL. However, it appears that only 1 or 2 of them may secure a spot on the team. Abhishek and Tilak are currently ranked in the top-2 positions among T20 batsmen, making their inclusion likely. The team will also likely choose between Riyan Parag or Rinku Singh for the final batting spot.
Wicketkeeper Contenders: Sanju Samson is the primary choice for the wicketkeeper position, having scored three T20 centuries for India in the past year. Rishabh Pant would have been a strong candidate, but he is unavailable due to injury.
Other options include Dhruv Jurel, Jitesh Sharma, and Prabhsimran. Jurel participated in the last series, while Jitesh and Prabhsimran are in excellent form. However, Jurel seems more likely to be selected based on previous lineups. Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul are also in contention for the wicketkeeper role, but their chances are slim unless injuries occur among the current players.
All-Rounders: India has five all-rounder options: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Head coach Gautam Gambhir values all-rounders across all formats, so it’s probable that all five could be included in the Asia Cup team. If one needs to be excluded, Sundar or Reddy may be the ones to miss out.
Bowling Options: For fast bowlers, India has Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammad Siraj, and Mohammad Shami available. Bumrah's absence in two matches during the England series was due to workload management, but he is now fit for the Asia Cup.
Along with Bumrah, Arshdeep will also get a chance in the team. Any 2 of the remaining 4 pacers can be given a chance. Siraj is more likely to get rest. Prasidh and Harshit's form in IPL was excellent. Shami is also fit, but he may be dropped from the T20 team now.
Among the spin bowlers, there are 2 all-rounders Axar and Sundar. Apart from them, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakraborty are full-time spinners. If there is space in the squad, all three will get a chance. If any 2 have to be chosen, Bishnoi can be dropped. There will definitely be 2 specialist spinners in the team.
Who will be the vice-captain, Shubman or Akshar? After winning the T20 World Cup last year, Team India went on a tour of Zimbabwe. Here Rituraj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill captained the team, Shubman was the leader in most of the matches. The next series was against Sri Lanka, here Gill was given the responsibility of vice-captaincy.
After the Sri Lanka series, India played T20 series against South Africa and England. In these, Shubman was given rest, due to which Axar Patel was made the vice-captain. Now the big question is whether Shubman will get the vice-captaincy in the Asia Cup or Axar?
Prakash Kumar Pandey