Team for conquering Asia

The Indian selection committee’s squad announcement for the Asia Cup is perhaps the best example of what a gourmet goes through while ordering limited dishes from an extensive menu — no matter what gets picked, there is always regret on missing out on other dishes. With the success of the IPL, India has emerged as a nation with an abundance of T20 specialists. Having not lost a single match in their title-winning campaign at the 2024 T20 World Cup, India will be vying to lift the T20 Asia Cup amid new circumstances.

Despite picking a strong squad, the selection panel’s exclusion of Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar and Yashasvi Jaiswal has become a contentious issue and will be discussed in great detail if India somehow fail to win the event. The squad selection has put a clear focus on India’s approach of going with many all-rounders to strengthen the batting while also riding on the limited but sharp bowling attack. The BCCI picked multi-skilled players Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube to bolster the middle-order.

The 15-member squad was announced by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel and the highlight was the comeback of India Test team captain Shubman Gill, who was named the vice-captain for the Asia Cup.

Gill, who was vice-captain the last time he played T20Is before being rested, will replace Axar Patel as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy.

Along with Gill, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma will be the three contenders for the opening slots. Given the aggressive approach from Sharma and mature batting from Samson, the selectors must have agreed to have a right-left combination.

Sharma can also bowl left-arm spin, giving him extra room to perform. Jaiswal was the backup opener ahead of Gill for the T20 World Cup last year as India wanted to open with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Gill, meanwhile, is most likely to hold the No. 3 spot, followed by Suryakumar. The skipper is also making a comeback after undergoing a sports hernia surgery in his lower right abdomen in Munich after finishing as the second-highest scorer in the IPL. Naming Gill as the vice-captain is also a step toward passing on the team’s baton to him in the coming future.

“With regards to Shreyas, you’ll have to tell who he can replace. (It is) again no fault of his nor is it ours. It’s just that at the moment you can just pick 15 (players). He’s got to wait for his chance,” Agarkar said. “With regards to Yashasvi, it’s just unfortunate again. You know, there’s Abhishek Sharma, what he’s done over the last few months or a year or so that he’s been with the team, and he can bowl a little bit, gives us an option if required by the captain. One of these guys was always going to miss out. It’s just unfortunate that Yashasvi might have to wait for his chance.”

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy will lead the bowling attack. With Bumrah fit to play the T20 Asia Cup, it will be a huge boost for India.

India are placed in Group A. Their first game is against UAE in Dubai on September 10, followed by the game against Pakistan in Dubai on September 14, and Oman in Abu Dhabi on September 19.