Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Shubman Gill, who was appointed as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy for the Asia Cup 2025, will face scrutiny on his return to the T20I squad. The star batter was added in India's T20I squad after leading England in the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Team India will start their Asia Cup 2025 campaign against the UAE on September 10 at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai, and there is a high probability that Shubman Gill will be seen opening batting alongside Abhishek Sharma. Ashwin, who announced his retirement in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, believes that he has the form and ability to emerge as one of the tournament’s top run-scorers.
"There will be some pressure on Shubman Gill to score runs. So at a strike rate of 140-150, he has a great chance to finish as the tournament's highest run-getter," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin for Abhishek Sharma
Ashwin also compared young opening batter Abhishek Sharma with his mentor Yuvraj Singh for his hard-hitting game-changing abilities.
"I am keen to see if Abhishek Sharma's all-out attacking approach works on these surfaces. But what a player, he is an upgraded version of Yuvraj Singh," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin picks India's playing XI
Ravichandran Ashwin also picked India's playing XI for the tournament opener, where he ignored veteran wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson and picked Shubman Gill as Abhishek Sharma's opening partner in the mega event.
"Abhishek Sharma will tee off at one end. Shubman Gill could be the glue around which the team is built up.
“In today's times, there is not a lot of need to become the glue in T20 cricket. But Shubman has it in him to play conventional cricket and still make a 100 off 55 balls," Ashwin further elaborated.
Ashwin’s India Playing XI vs UAE: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Jasprit Bumrah.