India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav on Tuesday expressed his delight at Shubman Gill’s return to the shortest format, after the 15-member squad for next month’s Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE was announced.
Gill, who also captains India’s Test side, has been named vice-captain of the T20I team and marks his comeback after nearly a year away from T20Is.
“In my opinion, the last time Shubman Gill played a T20I for India was when we went to Sri Lanka. When I was leading, he was the vice-captain. That’s where we started the new cycle for the T20 World Cup,” Suryakumar said.
“After that, he got busy with all the Test series. He didn’t get an opportunity to play T20Is because he was busy with Test cricket and the Champions Trophy. He is in the squad and we are happy to have him,” he added.
Gill’s recall follows a stellar IPL 2025 season with the Gujarat Titans, where he amassed 650 runs in 15 innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 155.87, leading the team into the playoffs.
He also boasts an impressive T20I record, scoring 578 runs in 21 matches at an average of 30.42 and a strike rate of 139.27, including one century and three fifties. Notably, he is among the few Indians to score centuries in all three international formats.
Suryakumar underlined the importance of the Asia Cup as preparation for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
“This is the first big tournament we are playing after the T20 World Cup. We played a few bilaterals, but this is a good tournament to test ourselves. There are a lot of T20S before we play the first game of the T20 World Cup. This is where the journey starts for the tournament,” he said.
Selection Insights from Ajit Agarkar
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar explained that Gill’s absence from recent T20Is was due to scheduling and commitments in other formats, which allowed other batters like Sanju Samson to feature.
“Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available at that point. So was Abhishek. Abhishek’s performances clearly make it hard to leave him out. Plus, his bowling is handy. But, like I said, Shubman was the vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup,” Agarkar said.
On whether Gill will walk straight into the playing XI, he said, “Captain and coach will take the call on the best balance for the team. Once we get to Dubai, we will have a bit more clarity. More options are available now. Shubman has been in great form anyway, the last few months. So has Sanju. So two good options, along with Abhishek.”
Agarkar also spoke on omissions. Yashasvi Jaiswal, despite being on the standby list, lost out to Abhishek Sharma, while Shreyas Iyer, despite a prolific IPL 2025, was also left out. Rinku Singh was included for balance in the squad.
India, the defending champions, are in Group A alongside the UAE, Pakistan, and Oman. They open against the UAE in Dubai on September 10, face Pakistan on September 14, and round off against Oman in Abu Dhabi on September 19. The tournament runs from September 9 to 28 in the UAE.
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