Asia Cup 2025: Test Skipper Shubman Gill Replaces Axar Patel As Vice-Captain

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India have announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, with a major change in leadership as Test captain Shubman Gill has been named the vice-captain of the T20I side, replacing Axar Patel.

The tournament, scheduled from September 9 to 28 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, will mark Gill's return to the shortest format after more than a year.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav welcomed Gill's inclusion and praised his presence in the setup. Speaking about the decision, he said: "When he played the last T20I in the Sri Lanka, he was Vice Captain after that he got busy for playing test cricket and he didn't got opportunity to play T20Is. So he is there in the squad and we are happy to have him."

Gill last featured in a T20I on July 30, 2024, against Sri Lanka in Pallekele, where he also served as India's vice-captain. Since then, he has primarily focused on red-ball cricket, and his form in the recent Test series in England has been nothing short of remarkable. Gill finished as the highest run-getter in the five-match series with 754 runs, earning the Player of the Series award, even as the contest ended in a 2-2 draw.

His IPL 2025 numbers further strengthened his case, as he piled up 650 runs at an average of 50, finishing as the tournament's fourth-highest scorer. The selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, viewed his form and leadership qualities as ideal for the vice-captaincy role heading into the Asia Cup.

The squad also sees the return of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has confirmed his availability after missing recent white-ball assignments. Among the notable inclusions is Jitesh Sharma, who last played a T20I in January 2024, while the biggest exclusions are Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer, both left out of the main squad.

The list of standby players includes Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Riyan Parag, providing additional options if required.

India's final squad announcement signals a blend of form players, experienced campaigners, and strategic leadership changes as they aim for continental supremacy in the UAE.

India's squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadac (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.