MUMBAI (Kashmir English): Test skipper Shubman Gill has been named in India’s T20 squad for the Asia Cup cricket tournament scheduled to be held next month after being left out of three previous series in the shortest format.
The top-order batsman returned to the 15-man squad as vice-captain with Suryakumar Yadav named skipper. Gill, 25, gave excellent performance with the bat in the recent Test series against England.
Gill scored 754 runs as India’s relatively young squad fought from behind to square the five-match series 2-2.
The eight-team Asia Cup will be the first major event in the build-up to T20 World Cup 2026 in India in February and March.
“We obviously see some leadership qualities in him (Gill),” chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said in Mumbai.
“His form in England… exceeded our expectations which is a great sign when there’s so much pressure as captain.”
Suryakumar was also happy to have Gill in the squad as he did not get too many opportunities in the past.
The eight-nation Asia Cup tournament will begin on Sept 9 with defending champions India set to play hosts United Arab Emirates the next day in Dubai in the tournament.
India and arch-rivals Pakistan have been clubbed in Group ‘A’ and face each other on Sept 14.
Gill was named Test skipper after the retirement of veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma earlier this year. He last played a T20 international in July 2024.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah also made a comeback to the T20 squad after opting out of two matches in England to manage his workload.
India’s T20 squad for Asia Cup
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
