Ajit Agarkar Reveals Why Shubman Gill Was Included in Asia Cup 2025 Squad Ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal - 'He Is Already...'
Shubman Gill was a surprise inclusion in India's Asia Cup 2025 squad, but chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar explained the rationale behind his inclusion.
One of the big surprises in the Indian cricket team squad that was announced for the Asia Cup 2025 was the inclusion of Shubman Gill over Yashasvi Jaiswal, with the latter only being named among the five reserves that India have for the tournament.
What's more, Gill was even named the vice-captain as Suryakumar Yadav retained his spot as the leader of the Indian side in the shortest format of the game.
After the squad was announced, the BCCI's chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar explained why it is that Gill was named in the squad but Jaiswal missed out, despite the latter generally being seen as a more explosive opener.
Agarkar Explains Gill's Presence
The former India international said that the team management sees leadership qualities in Gill, and that is why is in the squad and has also been named as Suryakumar's deputy.
“In both T20 cricket (IPL) and Test cricket Gill is already leading. He was also the vice-captain the last time he played in T20Is. We do see leadership qualities in him and he showed his quality by exceeding expectations with the bat in England (during the Test series),” Agarkar said in the press conference announcing the squad.
He also hinted at another key reason why Abhishek Sharma was preferred ahead of Jaiswal - the Punjab opener also gives the team a bowling option.
“Unfortunate for Yashasvi, but Abhishek has been excellent in the last few months and his bowling also makes him a valuable addition.”
Any Other Surprises in The Squad?
There were no other major surprises in the squad, with the side largely retaining the same players who have made it to the T20I squads over the past year.
Jitesh Sharma, who had an excellent season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru during their IPL 2025 title-winning campaign, did manage to sneak in to the squad.
The Asia Cup gets underway from September 9, with India's first game taking place against the UAE on September 10.
India's Squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Travelling Reserves: Prasidh Krishna, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar and Dhruv Jurel.
Published By : Shayne Dias
Published On: 19 August 2025 at 15:32 IST