Shubman Gill And? Indian Players Who Are Under Pressure To Deliver In Asia Cup 2025

Players who have a point to prove [Source: AFP Photo]

India’s Asia Cup squad was revealed last week, and the selectors named a strong team for the upcoming marquee event, which takes place next month. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel announced the Indian side, which hardly lacks any weaknesses, but there are some glaring questions which were asked last week.

Some of the players who were picked in the Asia Cup squad hadn’t played the T20I format for over a year, and some of them were not in contention before the team was revealed. These players have a point to prove in the upcoming tournament, and here are 3 stars who need to silence their critics in Asia Cup.

1) Shubman Gill

While Shubman Gill’s place in the Test, and the ODIs is never under question, his surprise inclusion in the T20I team raised eyebrows as the Test captain last played a T20I game in July 2024, and since then, India preferred the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma, and Sanju Samson.

While both Samson, and Abhishek have a T20I strike rate of well above 150, Gill’s numbers don’t come close to them.

• As the numbers suggests, while Samson strikes at 152, Abhishek has a strike rate of 193, and Gill stands at 139.23.
• Moreover, he was made the vice-captain of the team as Axar Patel was removed from the post, and this infuriated fans and experts. Thus the upcoming Asia Cup provides Gill a chance to redeem himself.
• He will certainly open for the team, and if Gill strikes at over 150, and helps India win the coveted tournament, the doubters will turn into fans, and he would have silenced his critics.

2) Harshit Rana

Gautam Gambhir’s favourite, nepotism product, Harshit Rana’s inclusion in the Asia Cup team was met with harsh words, and the head coach was slammed for ignoring Prasidh Krishna, who was snubbed despite being the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2025.

Harshit has played just a solitary T20I for India, and he wasn’t even in contention for a berth in the Asia Cup team. However, his inclusion surprised and angered Indian fans. Now, the seamer only has one way to redeem himself, and that is to showcase his skills in the upcoming tournament. 

In the last one-year, many of Gautam Gambhir’s decisions have been questioned, and some of them have come to haunt people. Harshit has the chance to silence his, and Gambhir’s doubters if he can produce match-winning performance in the Asian tournament.

3) Tilak Varma

The current number 2-ranked T20I batter, Tilak Varma, has received a lot of disrespect in the last few days. With Gill included in the team, and the fans wanting to keep Sanju Samson in the playing XI, many believe Tilak could be the one who has to sacrifice his spot, but the stats tell that he has been one of India’s best T20I batters in recent times.

(Tilak Varma stats in T20Is)

• A strike rate of 155, and two hundreds already in T20Is showcases his ability to deliver for the nation. Tilak has cemented his spot at number 3, but despite boasting extraordinary numbers, the batter might have to prove himself once again in the Asia Cup.
• A strong showing in the marquee tournament will shut the debate once and for all, and Tilak needs to deliver for the outside noise to stop.

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