The Indian men selection panel have announced a 15 member team that will participate in the upcoming Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to start off on September 9 onwards. The Suryakumar Yadav team involves the standard offenders Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, and Hardik Pandya, and the larger than life characters were not there to take their chances because of the presence of several big names.
On Tuesday, August 19, captain Suryakumar Yadav and chief selector Ajit Agarkar held a press conference in Mumbai to formally introduce the team.
All-rounder Axar Patel loses the title from a leadership standpoint, and Shubman Gill is now the team’s new vice-captain.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has no place in the Men in Blue’s lineup as they have decided to rely on their potent opening duo of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.
Regarding the middle order, Tilak Varma, the second-ranked T20I batsman, held off Shreyas Iyer’s challenge to keep his spot in the team. By adding Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh, the team has also strengthened the batting core.
After a historic 2025 IPL season, Jitesh Sharma rejoins the T20I team, while KL Rahul is passed over for a possible comeback after successful IPL and England campaigns.
Jasprit Bumrah will lead the bowling assault among the pacers, while Arshdeep Singh, who has been India’s top wicket-taker in the format, predictably keeps his position. In lieu of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, the IPL 2025 Purple Cap winner, right-arm pacer Harshit Rana has been selected to round up the pace bowling unit. The setup’s front-line spinners are Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.
Team India squad for 2025 Asia Cup
Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Stand by players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag
India placed in Group A for Asia Cup 2025
On September 10, the Men in Blue will face the UAE in the group stage to begin their championship defense. Next, they will meet Pakistan in a high-profile matchup on September 14, and finally, they will play their last group match against Oman on September 19.
Afterward, the top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 4 stage, which follows the group stage and uses a round-robin format. Ultimately, the final will feature the top two Super 4 teams competing for the title.
