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New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-member squad for next month's Asia Cup in the UAE. Suryakumar Yadav will lead India at the marquee event while Test skipper Shubman Gill has been chosen as the vice-captain for the continental tournament.
There were doubts about Gill's inclusion in the T20I setup but his stellar show in the England Test series, where he emerged as the highest run-scorer, became the reason for his comeback in the shortest format. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who played three Test matches in the England series, also made his T20 comeback after his last appearance in the format in T20 World Cup 2024.
Bumrah will leas a pace attack consisting of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana while heroes of the fifth and final Test match - Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna have nor found a place in the squad. With the batting line-up packed with players like Suryakumar, Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma among others, seasoned Shreyas Iyer and young gun Yashasvi Jaiswal have been ignored. While Jaiswal has been kept in the 5-member standby players list, Iyer's name is nowhere to be seen.
At the press conference in BCCI headquarters Mumbai, chief selector Ajit Agarkar addressed the question regarding the exclusion of Iyer and Jaiswal. Agarkar said that it is very unfortunate for Jaiswal to have missed out on a place in the 15-member squad. Citing the reason of Abhishek doing well in the shortest format with his ability to bowl as well, Agarkar said that one of two was going to miss out. Commenting on the absence of Iyer, Agarkar said that it's neither his fault nor ours.
'It's very unfortunate for Jaiswal, with Abhishek doing well, he can bowl as well - one of the two was going to miss out - same with Shreyas, not his fault. With respect to Iyer, who can he replace? It's no fault of his, but neither ours,' BCCI chief selector Agarkar said.
Iyer, who was snubbed from the shortest format, dominated the 50-over format this year finishing as India's top run-getter and the second-highest in their Champions Trophy 2025 win.
