Shubman Gill was picked in the Indian squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. Not only that, he was also named the new vice-captain of the side for the tournament. This is an interesting approach taken by the team management based on his success as India’s Test skipper.
Gill played his last T20I against Sri Lanka in July 2024 and since then, he has been out of the T20I side. He missed the last T20I series that India played against England as the management was keen on shaping him as India’s next Test skipper.
Shubman Gill’s position in India’s T20I side was questionable after Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson impressed the selectors in the T20I series against Bangladesh and South Africa. However, he had a productive IPL 2025 season, scoring 650 runs at a strike rate of 155.87 and also taking Gujarat Titans to the playoffs.
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Shubman Gill Was India's Vice-Captain In T20I Series Against Sri Lanka
To add to that, his recent success against England in the Test series as Test skipper has played a critical role in the selectors recalling him back to the T20I side. Suryakumar Yadav, the T20I skipper, spoke about Shubman’s return and his elevation as the vice-captain of the side.
"The last time when he played T20Is for India, post T20 World Cup, when we went to Sri Lanka, not Zimbabwe. I was leading then and he was the vice-captain and that's when we started a new cycle for T20 World Cup. After that he got busy with all the Test series. He did not get the opportunity to play T20 cricket because he got busy playing Test cricket and also the Champions Trophy. He is there in the squad and we are happy to have him," said Suryakumar.
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India To Play 15 T20Is Before T20 World Cup 2026
India will play 15 T20Is on their road to the T20 World Cup next year. After the Asia Cup, India will play T20Is and ODIs against Australia and South Africa and will travel to England for a white-ball series as well in 2026. Meanwhile, this is the first major T20I tournament for Suryakumar Yadav since he was named India’s T20I skipper after the T20 World Cup 2024.
"It is the first big tournament after last year's T20 WC. It's a good tournament to test ourselves. Lot of T20s after this also. The journey starts from here," Suryakumar concluded.
India's 15-Member Asia Cup Squad
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
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