Shubman Gill is all set to make a return to T20I cricket in Asia Cup 2025 after having not featured for the Indian team since July, 2024 in the series against Sri Lanka. The 25-year-old hadn't played a single match in the Men in Blue's previous T20I assignments against the likes of Bangladesh, South Africa and England as he was giving his main focus to the ODI and Test formats.
Despite this, the batter was given a place in India's squad for the continental tournament and was even appointed as the vice-captain. Gill will be acting as the deputy of Suryakumar Yadav, who will be the leading the Men in Blue for the first time in a major international tournament.
Though many were left surprised with Gill getting a place in the 15-member squad, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar remarked that he had no doubts about the batter's selection. He added that there was no reason for the 25-year-old to sit on the bench after performing brilliantly not just in the recently-concluded Test series against England, but also in IPL 2025 for the Gujarat Titans.
"There was no doubt in my mind that he would come into the team because not only had he scored over 750 runs against England, but also because his form in T20Is and IPL was also incredible. He may have not been in the squad for the T20 World Cup last year, but this time there was no doubt that he would make it to the team," Gavaskar said in an exclusive chat with Sports Tak.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar had also shared his thoughts on Gill's selection during the press-conference on Tuesday and had highlighted how the latter didn't get much opportunities in T20Is after he had shifted his focus to red-ball cricket.
"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.
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.