Mumbai, Aug 19 (IANS) India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav has welcomed Shubman Gill’s return to the shortest format, as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee announced the 15-member squad for next month’s Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE.

Gill, who also captains India’s Test side, has been named vice-captain of the T20I team and marks his comeback after nearly a year’s absence from the format.

“In my opinion, the last time Shubman Gill played a T20I for India was when we went to Sri Lanka. When I was leading, he was the vice-captain. That’s where we started the new cycle for the T20 World Cup,” Suryakumar told reporters after the squad announcement on Tuesday.

“After that, he got busy with all the Test series. He didn’t get an opportunity to play T20Is because he was busy with Test cricket and the Champions Trophy. He is in the squad and we are happy to have him.”

Gill’s recall comes on the back of a strong IPL 2025 campaign for Gujarat Titans, where he led the team into the playoffs and amassed 650 runs in 15 innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 155.87. He also has an impressive T20I record, scoring 578 runs in 21 matches at an average of 30.42 and a strike rate of 139.27, with one century and three fifties. Notably, Gill is among the few Indians to have scored centuries in all three international formats.

Suryakumar underlined the importance of the Asia Cup as a stepping stone towards the 2026 T20 World Cup. “This is the first big tournament we are playing after the T20 World Cup. We played a few bilaterals, but this is a good tournament to test ourselves. There are a lot of T20s before we play the first game of the T20 World Cup. This is where the journey starts for the tournament.”

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar admitted that Gill’s absence from recent T20Is was largely down to scheduling and commitments in other formats, which opened the door for other batters such as Sanju Samson.

“Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available at that point. So was Abhishek. Abhishek’s performances clearly make it hard to leave him out. Plus, his bowling is handy. But, like I said, Shubman was the vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup,” Agarkar said.

Asked whether Gill walks straight back into the playing XI, Agarkar left it open: “Captain and coach will take the call on the best balance for the team. Once we get to Dubai, we will have a bit more clarity. More options are available now. Shubman has been in great form anyway the last few months. So has Sanju. So two good options, along with Abhishek.”

On the omissions, Agarkar was candid. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is part of the standby list, lost out to Abhishek Sharma. “It’s unfortunate. With what Abhishek has done over the last year or so, plus he gives us a bowling option if required. One of these guys was always going to miss out.”

Shreyas Iyer, despite a prolific IPL 2025 for Punjab Kings, was also left out. Agarkar explained, “Again, no fault of his. Got to tell me who he can replace? At the moment, he will have to wait for his chance.”

On Rinku Singh’s inclusion, Agarkar added that balance was key. “He’s always been in the scheme of things. At the moment, we have two mystery spinners/wristspinners in Varun and Kuldeep, and Axar has been around for a while. When we need four spinners, he may always be in the mix. For now, we felt we needed an extra batter in Rinku. And you could only pick 15. If there were 16, maybe he could’ve been in.”

Agarkar admitted the selection group had a clear roadmap after last year’s T20 World Cup. “We had an idea after the last World Cup which way we were going to go. You want to give the 16-17-18 guys you’ve identified the best chance to be in form going into the World Cup.”

India, the defending champions, are placed in Group A alongside UAE, Pakistan, and Oman. They open their campaign against UAE in Dubai on September 10, followed by a high-voltage clash against Pakistan on September 14, and will round off the group stage against Oman in Abu Dhabi on September 19. The tournament runs from September 9 to 28 in the UAE.

–IANS

hs/