'We are happy to have him...': Suryakumar Yadav shares his take on Shubman Gill's inclusion in India's Asia Cup squad

India's squad for Asia Cup 2025 has been finally announced and Shubman Gill is set to act as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy in the tournament. Gill, who hasn't featured for the Men in Blue in the shortest format since July, 2024, is set to make his comeback and will also return to his position of vice-captain for the competition.

Suryakumar remarked that Gill didn't get many opportunities in T20Is after he had gotten busy with the Test and ODI assignments and added that the team is happy to have him back as the deputy.

"Last time when he played T20 post World Cup, when we went to Sri Lanka, he was vice-captain. That's where we started new cycle for T20 World Cup. After that we got busy with Test cricket, and he didn't get opportunities. We're happy to have him," Suryakumar said in the press-conference, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Gill didn't feature at all in India's previous few T20I series

Gill's last series with the Men in Blue in the shortest format was against Sri Lanka. He didn't ffeature at all in the T20I series against Bangladesh, South Africa and England as he was more focused on the other two formats. The batter has so far featured in 21 T20Is for the Men in Blue and has a total of 578 runs under his name. He has scored a century and a half-century so far in the format and will be looking to increase his tally in the Asia Cup.

ALSO READ: Prithvi Shaw puts batting woes to rest, smashes fine century in maiden knock for Maharashtra

Meanwhile, Gill's last major T20I tournament was IPL 2025 where he captained the Gujarat Titans and finished as the fourth-highest scorer of the tournament with 560 runs in just 15 matches. Not just this, he also maintained a blistering average of 50.0-0 and recorded six 50+ scores as well. It is safe to say that he did a phenomenal job with the bat throughout the competition and was a big reason why the Gujarat-based franchise made it to the playoffs.

ALSO READ: 'Indian cricket has reached another level because of him': Ambati Rayudu's 'extraordinary' verdict on Virat Kohli

India's squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.