Asia Cup: Here's why Shubman Gill was named India's vice-captain
What's the story
Shubman Gill has been appointed as the vice-captain of India's 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2025 T20I tournament. The event will be held in the UAE from September 9 to 28. Notably, it has been over a year since Gill's last T20I appearance in July 2024, where he also served as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy. Here are further details.
Selection rationale
Gill's selection over Axar explained
Responding to a question about Gill's selection over Axar Patel, who was vice-captain in his absence, T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav clarified that Gill was chosen because of his previous experience. "The last time he played T20Is for India was when we went to Sri Lanka. I was leading, he was vice-captain" Yadav said in the presser. "After that, he got busy with all the Test series. So, he didn't get the opportunity to play anywhere in T20Is."
Comeback
Gill's return after successful Test captaincy
Gill's return to the T20I squad comes after his successful stint as India's Test captain in the recent England series. The eight-team Asia Cup will be hosted in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with India drawn in Group A along with Pakistan, Oman, and UAE. India will begin their campaign against hosts UAE on September 10 before taking on arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14.
Upcoming matches
India set for busy T20 schedule ahead of World Cup
After the Asia Cup, India will play 15 more T20Is ahead of the T20 WC, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February 2026. India Asia Cup 2025 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. Standbys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel.