Mumbai, August 19: Shubman Gill, who last played a T20I for India in July 2024, was the most noteworthy inclusion in the 15-man squad chosen for the Asia Cup, which will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between September 9 and 29. Gill was also named as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy, as the selectors and team management otherwise kept faith in the core group that had won 12 of the last 15 matches in the format.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer were among the prominent names to miss out. Jaiswal has been named as one of the five standbys, alongside Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar and Prasidh Krishna. Shreyas didn’t find a place in that group either, with the selection committee opting for a third wicketkeeper.
With conditions in the UAE likely to favour spin, there are just three specialist pace bowlers in the squad, with Harshit Rana edging out Prasidh for the final berth behind Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
India squad: Surya Kumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, 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.
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