Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif questioned Axar Patel's removal from vice-captaincy in the Suryakumar Yadav-led squad for the Asia Cup 2025. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar and skipper Suryakumar Yadav announced India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025, where Shubman Gill was rewarded vice-captaincy following a brilliant outing in the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. Earlier, the BCCI appointed Axar Patel as India's T20I vice-captain for the home T20I series against England in January.
After the BCCI's squad announcement, Kaif took his 'X' to ask the latter whether he was informed about his removal from vice-captaincy in advance. He reckons that Axar deserves an explanation.
"I hope Axar Patel was informed about his removal from vice-captaincy in advance and he didn't come to know about it from the press conference. Axar did no wrong so he deserves an explanation" wrote Kaif.
Suryakumar Yadav explains why Gill was appointed India captain
Earlier, while attending the media India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav said that Shubman Gill was the vice-captain when India went to Sri Lanka for the T20I series. Stating how a new cycle was started after India's T20 World Cup 2024, the management opted to bring back Gill.
“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. After that, he got busy with all the Test series. He didn't get an opportunity to play T20Is because he was busy with Test cricket and the Champions Trophy,” Suryakumar Yadav told reporters.
Asia Cup 2025 is scheduled to start from September 9, and India will start their campaign the next day against the UAE at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. The high-voltage clash between India and Pakistan will take place on September 14 at the same venue.
India squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh