Asia Cup: No room for Shubman Gill in India’s new T20 template?

The biggest talking point on the eve of the selection of India's squad for the Asia Cup on Tuesday is whether Shubman Gill, Test captain and man in form, will fit into the T20I scheme of things any longer. It’s no secret that he was extremely bitter at failing to make the cut for the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies last year despite a prolific run in IPL 2024, but the team management and selectors are still of the belief that there is no room for him in the party to the UAE.

After being snubbed for the T20 World Cup squad last year, Gill made brief appearances as captain and vice-captain on subsequent tours of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. However, the past year has seen the Punjab batter grow in leaps and bounds in stature in Indian cricket — with the Test captaincy doing wonders to his form in England — and the selectoral dilemma for the upcoming international assignment will be a strong one.

The current Indian template for T20 cricket has been best illustrated by the two openers, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, who went on a tour across three series against Bangladesh, South Africa and England. It will possibly be the same combination — keeping in mind another World T20 round the corner in India and Sri Lanka — while past master Krish Srikkanth wants more spunk by throwing in teenage wonder Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the mix as reserve opener.

The Bihar lad, who scored the second fastest century in IPL history off 37 balls for Rajasthan Royals earlier this year and followed it up with a degree of consistency during the India A tour of England, has found his backers. ‘’You have to play bold. Don’t make him wait. Don’t say things like let him mature. He is already playing with remarkable maturity. His shot-making has been on another level. If I were chairman, I would definitely have him in the squad,’’ the legendary Srikkanth said on his own YouTube channel.

Heartening news for the India camp is that Suryakumar Yadav will remain captain, having been cleared of fitness issues after a hernia surgery. SKY, who had a decent IPL, is in with a strong chance to win his first multi-nation T20 tournament as captain as it was Rohit Sharma at the helm of affairs when the Men in Blue ended their jinx in the ICC tournaments in World T20 last year.

The embarrassment of riches in the middle order means there will be headaches aplenty for Ajit Agarkar & Co. Once again, there are question marks over a slot for Shreyas Iyer, ever so prolific in recent times in the IPL as well as the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai. It is believed that Shreyas will now be kept out of the reckoning for red-ball cricket in future, leaving a batter of his calibre solely in contention for ODIs.

On the bowling front, Mohammed Siraj doesn’t seem to be a sure-shot selection despite an awe-inspiring show on the England tour. His T20 form hasn't been the best, especially looking at the IPL 2025 season for Gujarat Titans, when he picked up 16 wickets in 15 matches. The likes of Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana and Jasprit Bumrah are reportedly ahead of him in the pecking order. 

However, Bumrah’s fitness concerns are now well-known, and there is enough speculation on whether it would be prudent to rush him back so soon. Chetan Sharma, former BCCI chairman of selectors, weighed in: ‘’If our physios are telling a player to manage his workload, I think we should listen to them because they are the better judges.’’

Watch this space for more once the squad is announced on Tuesday.