Asia Cup 2025: Shubman Gill Returns to T20Is, Shreyas Iyer Excluded – 6 Key Takeaways from India Squad

India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad saw surprises: Shubman Gill returns as vice-captain, sparking debates on the opening pair, Rinku Singh picked as finisher, while Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion shocked fans and raised eyebrows.

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Key takeaways from India's Asia Cup squad announcement

The BCCI senior men’s team chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, officially unveiled the 15-member India squad for the Asia Cup 2025 at the board’s headquarters in Mumbai on August 19, Tuesday. The squad announcement was made during the press conference, with India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav present alongside Ajit Agarkar.

The squad announcement became a major topic of discussion as there were several surprise inclusions and exclusions that left the fans and experts debating the team’s strategy and possible combination that might deploy in the tournament. Let’s take a look at 6 key takeaways from the India squad announcement for the Asia Cup 2025.

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1. Shubman Gill returns to T20I fold as vice-captain

Despite uncertainty over his inclusion in the India squad, Shubman Gill made his return to the T20I fold for the Asia Cup 2025. The 25-year-old was appointed vice-captain of the side, serving as a deputy to Suryakumar Yadav in the continental tournament. Gill was the vice-captain in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and then stepped away from the shortest format in order to focus on red-ball cricket, especially the Test series against New Zealand, Australia, and England.

Gill was rewarded with a leadership role after successfully leading Team India in his maiden assignment as a Test captain, drawing the five-match series against England. Before becoming the Test captain, Shubman Gill was already handling leadership duties, leading India in the T20I series against Zimbabwe last year, and served as a vice-captain in the Champions Trophy 2025.

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2. Opening combination conundrum

With Shubman Gill returning to the T20I fold, the team management might face the dilemma of choosing the opening combination for the Asia Cup 2025. When Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were away from the T20Is for a year, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma were the opening pair for three T20I series against Bangladesh, South Africa, and England.

Samson and Abhishek shared 267 runs between them, including a fifty, at an average of 22.25 in 12 matches. Though both have been included in the 15-member roster, team management will have to decide whether to continue with Samson and Abhishek at the top or to demote the former to pair Shubman Gill with the latter, weighing his form, experience, and balance for the Asia Cup 2025 opener.

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3. Prasidh Krishna loses his place to Harshit Rana

With Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh already certain, the toss-up for the third seamer was between Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana. Before the squad announcement, Prasidh was a favourite to be picked as the third fast bowling specialist, given that he was the highest wicket-taker of IPL 2025 and his recent outing in the fifth and final Test at the Oval, where he picked eight wickets.

However, Harshit Rana earned the nod over Prasidh Krishna, despite having a decent campaign in the IPL 2025, picking 15 wickets in 13 matches. Rana was part of the Indian team that won the Champions Trophy earlier this year, picking 4 wickets in two matches. Rana made his T20I debut against England this year, picking three wickets.

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4. No Shreyas Iyer in squad or reserves

One of the big takeaways from India’s squad announcement is the surprise exclusion of Shreyas Iyer. Iyer was reportedly in contention with Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, and Riyan Parag for the 15th spot. However, the Punjab Kings skipper lost his spot to Rinku, despite having a great IPL 2025, where he amassed 604 runs in 17 matches, and a brilliant outing in his comeback ODI series against England, and the Champions Trophy, where he was India’s highest run-getter.

To make it worse, Shreyas Iyer was not even included in the reserves. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, and Dhruv Jurel were included in the stand-by players, but Iyer was not even considered back-up in case of injury or form concerns to the players in the main squad.

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5. Absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal

Though Yashasvi Jaiswal was added to the reserves, many expected him to make the cut for the Asia Cup 2025, given his recent run of form, especially in IPL 2025 and the recently concluded Test series against England. With Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Tilak Verma having been phenomenal in T20Is over the past one year, it was tough to drop either of them from the squad.

However, chief selector Ajit Agarkar stated that Abhishek Verma’s impressive form in T20Is and the need to have an extra bowling option have played a role in getting Jaiswal excluded from the squad. Abhishek was hard to ignore for selectors as he is currently the World No.1 T20I batter. Reportedly, Jaiswal was asked to focus on red-ball cricket, keeping in mind the upcoming home Test series against West Indies and South Africa in October.

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6. Rinku Singh picked for the finisher role

One of the surprise developments from the squad announcement was Rinku Singh’s inclusion in the 15-member roster. Rinku did have an ideal season in the IPL 2025, and had moderate outings in the last 10 innings, with scores read - 11, 1, 1, 53, 8, 11, 9, 8, 30, 9, and amassed 141 runs at an average of 20.14. However, the selectors appeared to have picked him to play the role of a finisher.

Speaking at the press conference, Ajit Agarkar stated that Rinku Singh was picked as an extra batter rather than having an extra all-rounder in the squad, resulting in the exclusion of Washington Sundar. Currently, Indian squad has three all-rounders in Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube.