Mumbai: The focus is likely to be on maintaining continuity and keeping faith in the young and successful T20 specialists when the Indian selectors meet here at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters on Tuesday to pick the squad for the Asia Cup (to be played in the T20 format) in the UAE, scheduled from September 9-28.
The meeting will be attended by India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav , who will fly in from Bengaluru after clearing his fitness test at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE), which means SKY stays on as India’s T20 captain, possibly till the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
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Contrary to expectations, star batter and India's Test captain Shubman Gill , who was tipped in some quarters to take over the vice-captaincy role in the T20 format after a highly successful tour of England, where he scored 754 runs in five Tests @75.40 with a top score of 269, is currently struggling to even make it to what is likely to be not more than a 15-man squad -- unless head coach Gautam Gambhir pushes for his inclusion in the T20 format too.
" Gill is a terrific batsman, all the selectors and head coach Gautam Gambhir are huge fans of his batting, and he is rated almost as highly as Virat Kohli in India’s cricket circles in terms of potential. However, he doesn’t fit into the T20 scheme of things right now. Presently, the idea is to persist with ‘keeper-bat Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma as openers, with Tilak Varma coming in at No. 3 and skipper Suryakumar at No. 4. If you see, Abhishek and Varma are rated as the No. 1 & No. 2 batters in T20Is in the ICC rankings currently. How can you keep them out?" a source close to the developments told TOI.
Gill had a successful IPL 2025 too, where he slammed 650 runs in 15 matches @50.00, at a strike rate of 155.87, with six fifties, while captaining the Gujarat Titans. Along with young left-hander Sai Sudharsan, the 25-year-old forged an extremely prolific opening combination for GT.
However, Samson, Sharma, and Varma have done enough in T20Is last year to have the team management's confidence in them, at least for now. Samson smashed three hundreds in T20Is last year -- two against South Africa in an away series (107 & 109*) and one (111) against Bangladesh at Hyderabad in the home series. Tilak cracked back-to-back centuries (107 not out & 120 not out) against South Africa in November 2024. The 22-year-old had an average IPL this time for the Mumbai Indians, managing 343 runs in 16 matches @31.18 with two fifties, but that is unlikely to be held against him.
"Even Hardik Pandya had a bad IPL last year (while captaining MI), but he turned out to be one of India’s biggest heroes of their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies. Even greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have endured bad IPLs, but they were a different beast while playing for India in T20Is. You can’t judge a player just by one IPL," a source pointed out.
Abhishek, of course, is a certainty after bludgeoning a scintillating 135 off just 54 balls, including 13 sixes and seven fours, against England at the Wankhede Stadium on February 2 this year. Incidentally, it was the last T20I India played before the Asia Cup.
"The current top four in India’s T20 cricket reflect their new-found resolve to play fearlessly in this format. In fact, if you are talking about taking a third opener in the Asia Cup squad, the case of Yashasvi Jaiswal is stronger than Gill's. Jaiswal has the tendency to hit a lot more boundaries in the Powerplay overs, which is mandatory in today’s T20 cricket. If you remember, Jaiswal was in India’s main squad in the T20 World Cup last year, while Gill was in the reserves," the source said.
However, it’s learnt that Jaiswal, who scored two hundreds in the Test series in England (101 at Leeds & 118 at The Oval), has been asked to focus on red-ball cricket for now, considering India are scheduled to play four home Tests in the 2025-26 season—two each against West Indies and South Africa.
Iyer too struggling to make the cut
Like Gill, Shreyas Iyer is also struggling to make the cut, despite captaining Punjab Kings to the final of IPL 2025 and being in blazing form with the bat. The 30-year-old was India’s top run-getter in their Champions Trophy triumph in Dubai in March, scoring 243 runs in five matches @48.60, including two fifties. He scored 79 off 98 against New Zealand in the group stage, then 45 off 62 against Australia in the semifinal, and 48 off 62 in the final. However, he is competing with big-hitting left-handers, allrounder Shivam Dube and ‘finisher’ Rinku Singh.
Bumrah set to be back, Siraj likely to be rested
In encouraging news for Team India, world No. 1 pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who played three Tests in England and was under the scanner for workload management, has conveyed his availability to the selectors for the Asia Cup, and will thus lead India’s attack.
"Bumrah had a minor knee injury, but will be fit for the Asia Cup. He is supposed to report to the BCCI’s CoE on August 30 for a fitness assessment," a source told TOI.
With the final of the Asia Cup set for September 28 in Dubai and the first Test against West Indies starting on October 2 in Ahmedabad, there’s a fair chance that Bumrah will miss at least the first Test of that series. Meanwhile, pacer Mohammed Siraj, who took nine for 190 in the fifth Test at The Oval and finished with 23 wickets in the England series, is likely to be rested from the Asia Cup. He will, however, be available for the home Tests.
Apart from Bumrah, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna -- who won the Purple Cap in IPL 2025 with 25 wickets in 15 matches @19.52 for Gujarat Titans -- and Hardik Pandya will be the other seamers. Prasidh, though, could be competing for a spot with Delhi pacer Harshit Rana.
Among spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav are certainties on the slow UAE wickets, while off-spinning allrounder Washington Sundar is almost guaranteed a spot.
The Asia Cup will begin with Afghanistan vs Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi on September 9. Clubbed in Group A with arch-rivals Pkistan, UAE and Oman, India will launch their campaign against UAE on September 10 in Dubai. They take on Pkistan on September 14 in the league stage, and most likely again in the Super Four stage on September 21. The final is scheduled for September 28.
Jitesh Sharma, a star performer for IPL 2025 champions RCB (261 runs in 15 matches @37.28, SR 176.35, including a top score of 85*), is expected to be picked as the second wicketkeeper in the squad.
The meeting will be attended by India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav , who will fly in from Bengaluru after clearing his fitness test at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE), which means SKY stays on as India’s T20 captain, possibly till the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
Contrary to expectations, star batter and India's Test captain Shubman Gill , who was tipped in some quarters to take over the vice-captaincy role in the T20 format after a highly successful tour of England, where he scored 754 runs in five Tests @75.40 with a top score of 269, is currently struggling to even make it to what is likely to be not more than a 15-man squad -- unless head coach Gautam Gambhir pushes for his inclusion in the T20 format too.
" Gill is a terrific batsman, all the selectors and head coach Gautam Gambhir are huge fans of his batting, and he is rated almost as highly as Virat Kohli in India’s cricket circles in terms of potential. However, he doesn’t fit into the T20 scheme of things right now. Presently, the idea is to persist with ‘keeper-bat Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma as openers, with Tilak Varma coming in at No. 3 and skipper Suryakumar at No. 4. If you see, Abhishek and Varma are rated as the No. 1 & No. 2 batters in T20Is in the ICC rankings currently. How can you keep them out?" a source close to the developments told TOI.
Gill had a successful IPL 2025 too, where he slammed 650 runs in 15 matches @50.00, at a strike rate of 155.87, with six fifties, while captaining the Gujarat Titans. Along with young left-hander Sai Sudharsan, the 25-year-old forged an extremely prolific opening combination for GT.
However, Samson, Sharma, and Varma have done enough in T20Is last year to have the team management's confidence in them, at least for now. Samson smashed three hundreds in T20Is last year -- two against South Africa in an away series (107 & 109*) and one (111) against Bangladesh at Hyderabad in the home series. Tilak cracked back-to-back centuries (107 not out & 120 not out) against South Africa in November 2024. The 22-year-old had an average IPL this time for the Mumbai Indians, managing 343 runs in 16 matches @31.18 with two fifties, but that is unlikely to be held against him.
"Even Hardik Pandya had a bad IPL last year (while captaining MI), but he turned out to be one of India’s biggest heroes of their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies. Even greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have endured bad IPLs, but they were a different beast while playing for India in T20Is. You can’t judge a player just by one IPL," a source pointed out.
Abhishek, of course, is a certainty after bludgeoning a scintillating 135 off just 54 balls, including 13 sixes and seven fours, against England at the Wankhede Stadium on February 2 this year. Incidentally, it was the last T20I India played before the Asia Cup.
"The current top four in India’s T20 cricket reflect their new-found resolve to play fearlessly in this format. In fact, if you are talking about taking a third opener in the Asia Cup squad, the case of Yashasvi Jaiswal is stronger than Gill's. Jaiswal has the tendency to hit a lot more boundaries in the Powerplay overs, which is mandatory in today’s T20 cricket. If you remember, Jaiswal was in India’s main squad in the T20 World Cup last year, while Gill was in the reserves," the source said.
However, it’s learnt that Jaiswal, who scored two hundreds in the Test series in England (101 at Leeds & 118 at The Oval), has been asked to focus on red-ball cricket for now, considering India are scheduled to play four home Tests in the 2025-26 season—two each against West Indies and South Africa.
Iyer too struggling to make the cut
Like Gill, Shreyas Iyer is also struggling to make the cut, despite captaining Punjab Kings to the final of IPL 2025 and being in blazing form with the bat. The 30-year-old was India’s top run-getter in their Champions Trophy triumph in Dubai in March, scoring 243 runs in five matches @48.60, including two fifties. He scored 79 off 98 against New Zealand in the group stage, then 45 off 62 against Australia in the semifinal, and 48 off 62 in the final. However, he is competing with big-hitting left-handers, allrounder Shivam Dube and ‘finisher’ Rinku Singh.
Bumrah set to be back, Siraj likely to be rested
In encouraging news for Team India, world No. 1 pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who played three Tests in England and was under the scanner for workload management, has conveyed his availability to the selectors for the Asia Cup, and will thus lead India’s attack.
"Bumrah had a minor knee injury, but will be fit for the Asia Cup. He is supposed to report to the BCCI’s CoE on August 30 for a fitness assessment," a source told TOI.
With the final of the Asia Cup set for September 28 in Dubai and the first Test against West Indies starting on October 2 in Ahmedabad, there’s a fair chance that Bumrah will miss at least the first Test of that series. Meanwhile, pacer Mohammed Siraj, who took nine for 190 in the fifth Test at The Oval and finished with 23 wickets in the England series, is likely to be rested from the Asia Cup. He will, however, be available for the home Tests.
Apart from Bumrah, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna -- who won the Purple Cap in IPL 2025 with 25 wickets in 15 matches @19.52 for Gujarat Titans -- and Hardik Pandya will be the other seamers. Prasidh, though, could be competing for a spot with Delhi pacer Harshit Rana.
Among spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav are certainties on the slow UAE wickets, while off-spinning allrounder Washington Sundar is almost guaranteed a spot.
The Asia Cup will begin with Afghanistan vs Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi on September 9. Clubbed in Group A with arch-rivals Pkistan, UAE and Oman, India will launch their campaign against UAE on September 10 in Dubai. They take on Pkistan on September 14 in the league stage, and most likely again in the Super Four stage on September 21. The final is scheduled for September 28.
Jitesh Sharma, a star performer for IPL 2025 champions RCB (261 runs in 15 matches @37.28, SR 176.35, including a top score of 85*), is expected to be picked as the second wicketkeeper in the squad.
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