Shubman Gill Named Vice-Captain for Asia Cup; Bumrah Returns

Mumbai, Aug 19 (PTI) — Shubman Gill has been appointed as the vice-captain of India's 15-member T20 squad for the upcoming Asia Cup next month, with ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah also returning to the fold. The squad will be led by skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Gill last played a T20 match against Sri Lanka in 2024 at Pallekele and takes over Axar Patel's previous role as vice-captain. The Asia Cup is scheduled to commence on September 9 in the UAE.

"Gill's performance in England was beyond our expectations," remarked chief selector Ajit Agarkar during a press conference held for the squad announcement.

Despite concerns regarding Bumrah's availability—particularly given the tournament's closeness to the domestic Test series versus the West Indies in October—the selectors have included him in the squad. This marks Bumrah's first T20 tournament since last year’s World Cup.

Additionally, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been included in the team, while Jitesh Sharma will serve as the back-up wicketkeeper batter. Among the five standby players, the young talent Yashasvi Jaiswal has been selected.

“It’s unfortunate that Jaiswal has had to miss out, but he will have to wait,” Agarkar stated.

Another notable omission from the squad is Shreyas Iyer, renowned for guiding Punjab Kings to the IPL final earlier this year. Agarkar explained this decision by highlighting the wealth of T20 talent available, which creates a challenge in accommodating everyone.

“We have some serious options in the T20 squad...sometimes making it a challenging selection, but it’s a good dilemma to have,” Agarkar added.

India is placed in Group A for the Asia Cup alongside Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE.

India Squad for Asia Cup:

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.

(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)