The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025, scheduled to begin on September 9 in the UAE. Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the team, while Shubman Gill has been surprisingly promoted to the role of vice-captain, replacing Axar Patel. The selection meeting, held at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, faced delays due to extreme weather conditions in the city.

In a major talking point, star batter Shreyas Iyer and young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to make the squad despite their strong performances in the shortest format. Gill’s elevation as vice-captain now creates an interesting scenario for head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav, as his inclusion in the playing XI seems almost certain. This move could push Sanju Samson, who recently opened alongside Abhishek Sharma after the T20 World Cup 2024, down to No. 3—a position previously held by Tilak Varma.

The BCCI has picked a 15-member squad along with five reserve players as injury backups. Surprisingly, Iyer did not even feature in the list of reserves, despite being backed by several former players, including Ravichandran Ashwin.

India’s Asia Cup 2025 Squad:
Suryakumar 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.