'Last time Shubman played..' Suryakumar Yadav's reaction on Gill becoming VC in Asia Cup 2025
India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has hailed Shubman Gill’s return to the shortest format, after the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee named the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE. Gill, who also leads India’s Test team, has been appointed vice-captain for the tournament, marking his comeback to T20Is after nearly a year.
“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. He is in the squad and we are happy to have him,” Suryakumar told reporters after Tuesday’s announcement.
Gill’s recall comes on the back of a stellar IPL 2025 campaign, where he led Gujarat Titans into the playoffs and piled up 650 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 155.87. The opener also boasts a promising T20I record with 578 runs in 21 matches, including one century and three fifties, and remains among the few Indians to score centuries across all formats.
Calling the Asia Cup a “stepping stone” towards the 2026 T20 World Cup, Suryakumar stressed: “This is the first big tournament we are playing after the T20 World Cup. We played a few bilaterals, but this is where the journey starts for the tournament.”
Selection chairman Ajit Agarkar explained that Gill’s absence in recent T20Is was largely down to Test and Champions Trophy commitments, which opened the door for players like Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. “Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available. Abhishek’s performances made it hard to leave him out, plus his bowling is handy. But Shubman was the vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup,” Agarkar said.
On whether Gill walks straight into the XI, Agarkar was non-committal: “Captain and coach will take the call. Shubman has been in great form, and so has Sanju. More options are available now.”
Among the notable omissions were Yashasvi Jaiswal, who lost out to Abhishek Sharma but finds a place in the standby list, and Shreyas Iyer, despite a prolific IPL 2025 with the Punjab Kings. “Again, no fault of his. Got to tell me who he can replace? At the moment, he will have to wait,” Agarkar said.
Rinku Singh was preferred as an extra batting option, with Agarkar underlining balance as the key factor. “He’s always been in the scheme of things. If there were 16 slots, maybe one more spinner could have been included, but we felt we needed Rinku this time.”
India, the defending champions, have been drawn in Group A with the UAE, Pakistan, and Oman. They open against the UAE on September 10 in Dubai, face Pakistan on September 14, and finish the group stage against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi. The Asia Cup will run from September 9 to 28.