Mumbai, Aug 19: Test skipper Shubman Gill was on Tuesday appointed India’s T20 vice-captain for next month’s Asia Cup where Jasprit Bumrah will also be there to bolster the team’s bowling attack even as a strong contender like IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer missed out due to abundance of talent in the format.
The 25-year-old Gill’s last T20 International match was against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in 2024 and he has now replaced Axar Patel as the deputy of skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the 15-strong squad.
Asia Cup begins on September 9 and India is placed in Group A of alongside Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE.
Gill’s inclusion was hardly a surprise after a stupendous run in the recent Test rubber against England where he scored four hundreds in the drawn five-match series.
“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 here.
However, the management will have to ponder over Gill’s batting slot during the continental showpiece because Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have forged an effective pair at the top.
Agarkar looked at it as a delightful problem of plenty rather than a headache.
“There are more options (for top order) now and Shubman has been in a great form anyway. When they get to Dubai, they can decide on the playing XI according to the opposition and the conditions,” said the former India pacer.
But the team think tank has the option of pushing Samson down to the middle-order, where the Kerala batter batted quite often in the past, and gave Gill the opening slot.
Agarkar hinted as much.
“Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available at that point (and) so was Abhishek. (But) Abhishek’s performances clearly makes it hard to leave him out. Plus, his bowling is handy,” he said.
“Like I said, he (Shubman) was (the) vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup so even at that point, clearly we were thinking along those lines.
“Now that he’s available, at least he (Suryakumar) has two options. It’s their headache to pick the batting lineup (now); ours was to pick the 15 and so. But we’ve got some real depth as far as T20 cricket is concerned and we are very happy with it,” he added.
Bumrah returns
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.
The Asia Cup final is scheduled on September 28 in Dubai, while the first Test against the touring Caribbeans is set to begin on October 2 at Ahmedabad.
But the selectors opted to pick him nonetheless and this will be Bumrah’s first T20 tournament since last year’s World Cup.
Apart from the Asia Cup and the series against the West Indies being close to each other, Bumrah’s workload management plans too might have been considered before arriving at the decision to pick him for the Asia Cup.
As per the strategy, Bumrah played only three matches in the five-match series against England recently, but Agarkar said they have not put in place any rigorous rule on how to manage the pacer.
“There’s no written plan at the moment. We have had a nice break from the England series. We are trying to look after him.
“…most fast bowlers are monitored and it won’t change. How we require him (for future tournaments) is also important,” he said.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav too has been drafted in, while Jitesh Sharma will be the back-up wicketkeeper batter.
Agarkar said Jitesh has evolved a lot as a T20 batter in the last year. The wicketkeeper batter was in good form for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2025, often chipping in with vital runs down the order.
“The way he did in the IPL…it was impressive. We discussed not focusing on the milestones,” he noted.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was among the five standby players chosen by the selectors. The other four are: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.
“It’s unfortunate that Jaiswal has had to miss out but he will have to wait as what Abhishek Sharma has done on the top of the order cannot be looked past,” Agarkar said.
Sundar was expected to get a place in the first 15 mainly because of head coach Gautam Gambhir’s preference for all-rounders.
But it would have been hard to ignore the feats of Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy in the recent past and left-arm spinner Axar also brings in immense value as a batter flexible enough to come in anywhere in the order.
“Sundar is always in the scheme of things. This is not the final squad for the World Cup. We have three spinners at the moment, whether we need four, it can always come into the equation. We have got Rinku as an extra batter which we might require,” Agarkar explained.
The all-rounder’s duty will be shared by Hardik Pandya, Axar and Shivam Dube.
No place for Shreyas
Another prominent name missing in the squad was Shreyas Iyer, who showed tremendous form while guiding Punjab Kings to the IPL final earlier this year. This was a season after guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to a trophy-winning campaign.
Agarkar blamed it on the abundance of T20 talent that makes it difficult to accommodate Shreyas.
“We have got some serious options in T20 squad…sometimes not the easiest squad to pick but good headache to have,” Agarkar said.
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, Kuldeep Yadav.
Standbys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
(Agencies)
