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With the Men’s Asia Cup 2025 being the next major cricketing assignment for Team India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, August 19 announced 15-member squad including five reserves. As expected, Suryakumar Yadav was named the captain of the side after he was declared fit following a sports hernia surgery in June in Germany.
While Suryakumar Yadav will be captaining the side, India’s red-ball captain - Shubman Gill has been named his deputy. Although, the reports of Gill taking over the role was long in news, it finally was confirmed on Tuesday during the squad announcement press conference in Mumbai. Gill’s inclusion not only brought cheers to the fans, former India cricketers also hailed this move.
Vice-captaincy is clear sign that he is destined to lead India: Sunil Gavaskar on Shubman Gill
Among many was former India cricketer and legend of the game, Sunil Gavaskar - who also hinted that this move could eventually lead to Gill becoming the all-format captain of the Indian side. Speaking with India Today following the squad announcement, Gavaskar hailed Gill’s recent run of form while adding that a player like him cannot be sidelined.
“He scored over 750 runs just a couple of weeks ago. You cannot exclude a player in that kind of form. Giving him the vice-captaincy is also a way of telling him that in the future, he could be leading the T20 side. I think it’s a very, very good selection,” Gavaskar said. “He was very impressive in England as well. To score 750-plus runs while leading the side for the first time shows how well he handled pressure. This vice-captaincy is a clear sign that he is destined to lead India in the future,” he added.
India’s 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
Reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel
