3 players who were lucky to be picked in India's squad for Asia Cup 2025 ft. Shivam Dube

India announced their squad for the 2025 Asia Cup on Tuesday, August 19. Following the BCCI selectors' meeting in Mumbai, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Suryakumar Yadav held a press conference to clarify their thought process and plans.

Agarkar has generally been a fantastic chief selector, but the squad picked for the tournament hasn't sat well with a large section of the cricket-watching public. At least a few names in the contingent were ideally better off on the sidelines, largely due to indifferent form in recent times.

India's squad for the 2025 Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

On that note, here are three Indian players who were lucky to be picked in India's squad for the 2025 Asia Cup.

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#3 Shivam Dube

2025 IPL - Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals - Source: Getty

Shivam Dube played a key role for India in their victorious 2024 T20 World Cup campaign, but he hasn't had a great amount to show for since then. His technical issues were exposed in the 2025 Indian Premier League, where he struggled to hit both pace and spin.

It's hard to see how Dube fits into the Indian T20I side. He doesn't offer much with the ball and in the field, and his recent struggles against spin have led to his T20 game becoming entirely one-dimensional. The left-hander isn't particularly young either, and the Men in Blue have plenty of options with a bigger upside.

Dube did well in his last T20I series against England, but with many of the first-choice names being available, he could've been overlooked.

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#2 Harshit Rana

India Cricket - Source: Getty

Another player who had an indifferent IPL campaign, Harshit Rana barely managed a wicket a game for the Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this year. He also leaked runs at more than 10 an over, proving expensive across all stages of the innings.

Rana clearly has the backing of head coach Gautam Gambhir and is one of the most promising fast-bowling prospects in the country. However, it's arguable that other names should've been picked ahead of him for the 2025 Asia Cup, especially with the young pacer having featured in only one game so far.

Prasidh Krishna, who won the IPL 2025 Purple Cap, deserved a chance. Instead, he has been named in the standbys.

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#1 Rinku Singh

India Cricket - Source: Getty

Rinku Singh has gone six T20I innings without a notable knock, tapering off after a brilliant start to his career in the format. The finisher also endured a distinctly sub-par Indian Premier League campaign for the Knight Riders and hasn't been in the best of form lately.

Nevertheless, Rinku has been picked in the squad for the Asia Cup. That's largely because of the absence of clear-cut choices in the niche role he plays, but Jitesh Sharma and Hardik Pandya's presence should be enough to cover for the lower-middle-order spots.

With clear weaknesses against hard lengths and spin, Rinku will need to make some adjustments if he is to succeed at the highest level.