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With ACC Men’s Asia Cup now less than a month away, there have been talks around the squad selections. While Afghanistan and Bangladesh have already named their preliminary squads for the upcoming continental tournament, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have a tough time picking their best 15. However, the side will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, who took over the T20I reins after Rohit Sharma’s retirement last year.
Although, Suryakumar Yadav is racing against time to get fit for the tournament, scheduled to be played from September 9 to 28 in the UAE, the Indian team is likely to see some surprise as well as shock inclusions as well as omissions. With some brilliant batting strength at their disposal and an exceptional pick of bowlers, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is likely to announce their squad in a week’s time.
Jasprit Bumrah to play Asia Cup; Shubman Gill to be named India’s vice-captain: Reports
With the BCCI waiting for an update from the Centre of Excellence’s (CoE) Sports Science team on players’ fitness, reports have revealed that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is all set to feature in the marquee tournament after he missed the Oval Test against England due to workload management. Furthermore, reports have also claimed that Shubman Gill is set to be named Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy despite Axar Patel being in the side.
As per reports, BCCI is not too keen to change the top-order which boasts of the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya. A BCCI source close to the development was quoted as saying, “Abhishek Sharma is world's No. 1 T20 batter in last ICC rankings. Sanju Samson has been fantastic last season with both bat and gloves. So it will certainly be a tough call but Shubman in current form (although in Tests) can't be ignored. He had a good IPL also. Problem for selectors is, there are too many performers at the top of the order.”
India's likely squad for Men's Asia Cup 2025:
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana/Prasidh Krishna, Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma/Dhruv Jurel.
