• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Gill Dropped Captain Suryakumar To Bat At 4 As Ex Player Picks Indias Asia Cup Xi

Gill Dropped; Captain Suryakumar To Bat At 4 As Ex-Player Picks India's Asia Cup XI

Jatin

Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill [Source: MidnightMusinng, @nepalipaisa/x.com]Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill [Source: MidnightMusinng, @nepalipaisa/x.com]

With the Asia Cup 2025 just around the corner, the excitement is already bubbling over. India are set to begin their campaign on September 10 against the UAE in the United Arab Emirates with a blockbuster clash against Pakistan waiting on September 14.

Kaif Picks India’s Asia Cup 2025 XI Without Gill

Former India star Mohammad Kaif has now thrown his hat into the selection debate by naming both his playing XI and a 15-member squad for the tournament. And as always with Kaif, there are a few bold calls in the mix.

Kaif didn’t beat around the bush while announcing his first-choice XI. Taking to X, Kaif said:

“If we talk about the playing XI, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson will open. Tilak Verma will be No.3, followed by Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4 who will be the captain. Axar Patel will come in at No.5 and will also be the vice captain and he will be followed by Hardik Pandya at No.6. Shivam Dube will be at No.7, Washington Sundar will be at No.8. Kuldeep Yadav will be No.9, Arshdeep Singh will be no.10 and Jasprit Bumrah will be at No.11.”

That is quite a dynamic squad with Surya handed the captain’s armband and Axar Patel trusted with vice-captaincy duties. Kaif has put faith in the all-round department, stacking the line-up with options like Hardik, Dube, Axar and Sundar.

The Four Backup Names

Kaif also named his reserves to round off a 15-member squad. He added:

“If I add 4 more names and talk about the squad, then Shubman Gill be the back up opener and Jitesh Sharma will be the backup wicketkeeper. The other two players will be Varun Chakravarthy and Mohammed Siraj.”

That makes for a well-rounded squad on paper: batting depth with Shubman Gill, an explosive wicketkeeping option in Jitesh Sharma, mystery spin from Varun Chakravarthy and Mohammed Siraj’s pace and aggression.

India’s Asia Cup Journey

The tournament will return to the T20 format this year, with India’s group stage fixtures locked in. After their opener against the UAE on September 10, they face the highly-anticipated clash against Pakistan on September 14, before finishing group play against Oman on September 19. With just six months to go for the T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, the Asia Cup will act as the perfect dress rehearsal.

India will once again enter as one of the hot favourites, with Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan also in the hunt, along with Hong Kong, UAE and Oman. The last edition was in the ODI format as a tune-up for the 2023 World Cup and India lifted the trophy after steamrolling Sri Lanka in the final. This time though, with the shortest format back in play, expect fireworks in Asia Cup.