Asia Cup: Gill as T20 deputy — being groomed to lead across all formats?
BCCI's media manager refused questions on India playing Pakistan, leaving another selectoral snub for Shreyas Iyer to become a major talking point
The Indian squad for Asia Cup, announced amid intense speculation on a rainy Mumbai on 19 August, Tuesday, underlined the growing stature of Shubman Gill in the power structure of Indian cricket in no uncertain terms. After being snubbed conspicuously for the T20 World Cup last year, the man of the moment is back in the frame as a vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav — making it amply clear that he is the ‘chosen’ one as the all format captain in future.
The last time Gill was a part of India’s T20 squad was against Sri Lanka in mid-2024, soon after Gautam Gambhir took charge. Abhishek Sharma, the other Punjab da puttar along with Gill in the squad, has been opening the innings with Sanju Samson in the shortest format in the interim; but now the thinking may change with the prolific Test captain coming into the equation.
It will also not be long before Gill, the deputy to Rohit Sharma in the ODIs at the moment, takes charge in the 50-overs format too, with the 2027 World Cup in South Africa on the horizon.
It's not that Gill has been a misfit in this format — witness him scoring consistently in the past three IPL seasons for the Gujarat Titans (890 runs, strike rate of 157.80 in 2023), 426 (strike rate 147.40 in 2024) and 650 (strike rate 155.88 in 2025), respectively. There just has not been much of a churn in the rest of the squad, with speed merchant Jasprit Bumrah being available once again after an intense debate on his ‘workload management’ dominating the headlines over the last month.
Meanwhile, the cold shoulder to Shreyas Iyer in the T20 format has been most intriguing — once again. The public outrage over Iyer not being considered for the Test squad to England is still fresh in the memory, with many on social media laying the blame at Gambhir’s door. The grapevine suggests the middle-order batter, who was once considered a potential replacement to Ajinkya Rahane at No.5 in Tests, shall be henceforth only considered for the white ball edition.
After delivering consistently in the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai in February–March, where the Asia Cup will also be played, it was surely logical for Shreyas to expect a berth in the T20 squad — if only for having amassed 604 runs in a dominant fashion in the last IPL at a strike rate of 175.07 for the Punjab Kings. Be it tackling the spinners in the middle overs or spearheading a chase under tricky conditions, it’s difficult to find a match for Shreyas Iyer — and surely a travesty of cricketing sense to limit his abilities to the 50-overs format only.
The upcoming edition of the Asia Cup in the T20 format also provides more context for the T20 World Cup scheduled in India and Sri Lanka next year. The Men in Blue appear to be strong favourites to retain the crown as they begin their campaign on 10 September, when they face the UAE in Dubai, before running into Pakistan three days later at the same venue.
The issue of playing Pakistan, panned by former cricketers and the 'lay' netizens alike, created an unpleasant situation in the press conference when chief selector Ajit Agarkar was interrupted by the BCCI representative as the former was trying to answer a question on the issue.
Later, a similar question directed at Suryakumar Yadav was also blocked, with the media manager insisting that the press conference would focus only on squad selection.
India's group campaign ends on 19 September, when they face Oman in Abu Dhabi. The group stage gives way to the Super Four, followed by the final on 28 September.
Team India
Suryakumar Yadav (captain)
Shubman Gill (vice-captain)
Abhishek Sharma
Tilak Varma
Hardik Pandya
Shivam Dube
Axar Patel
Jitesh Sharma
Jasprit Bumrah
Varun Chakaravarthy
Arshdeep Singh
Kuldeep Yadav
Sanju Samson
Harshit Rana