Shubman Gill was named as India's vice-captain for the upcoming Asia Cup, to be played in the UAE next month.
Gill enjoyed a phenomenal run with the bat in England, piling up 754 runs at an average of 75.40 with four centuries. He has an impressive record in ODIs, with 2,775 runs in 55 matches at an average of 59.04.
He makes his comeback to the Indian T20 team after a year, having last played against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in August last year. Overall, he has played 21 T20Is since making his debut in January 2023, scoring 578 runs at a strike rate of 139.27, with a century and three fifties.
"Last time when he played T20 cricket post the World Cup, when we went to Sri Lanka, I was leading he was the vice-captain. That's where we started our new cycle for the T20 World Cup, after that he got busy with Test cricket, and he didn't get opportunities to play T20 cricket. He is there in the squad and we are happy to have him," said captain Suryakumar Yadav on Gill's inclusion.
However, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer missed out despite their superb showing in IPL 2025 earlier this year.
"It is unfortunate. But with what Abhishek (Sharma) has done over the last year, he also gives the captain a bowling option, so one of these guys was always going to miss out," said chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
On Iyer, he added: "No fault of his, but tell me who can he replace? At the moment, he will have to wait for his chances."
The big surprise was that Iyer was not even included in the five-man standby list which includes Jaiswal. Riyan Parag was included in the reserves along with Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar.
Rinku Singh kept his place as the finisher, along with all-rounder Shivam Dube, while Jitesh Sharma was picked as the second wicket-keeper.
Jasprit Bumrah was picked for the Asia Cup after he confirmed his availability to the selectors, making a comeback to the T20 team after the World Cup last year.
"I don't think there is any written plan. It has been a nice break after the England series. The physios, team management have been in touch, and clearly we want him available for all the big games. There are World Cups, Champions Trophy, big series like the ones against England, Australia, you want him available for all of them," stated Agarkar.
Arshdeep Singh will be Bumrah's pace partner, while Harshit Rana was picked as the third seamer ahead of Prasidh Krishna.
Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy are the two frontline spinners, while all-rounders Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma can chip in with a few overs of spin.
The Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from September 9 to 28. India are placed in Group A with Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE, while Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong are in group B.
India will play two of their league games on September 10 (vs UAE) and September 14 (vs Pakistan) at Dubai while their final league game against Oman will be held at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 19.
India's squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Standbys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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