Asia Cup 2025: From Shubman Gill's likely comeback to Jasprit Bumrah's availability, all the buzz around India's squad selection and likely headaches

Following the conclusion of a grueling five-match Test series in England, Team India's next assignment will be the Asia Cup 2025 T20 tournament. The eight-nation event will be played in the UAE from September 9 to September 28. The Men in Blue are the defending champions in the event, having won the title in 2023. With eight titles, they are also the most successful team in the Asia Cup.

India have been placed in Group A for Asia Cup 2025 along with arch-rivals Pakistan, hosts UAE and Oman. The Men in Blue will begin their campaign in the tournament with a clash against UAE in Dubai on September 10. They will then take on Pakistan at the same venue on September 14 before facing Oman in Abu Dhabi on September 19 in their third and final Group A match.

As per reports, India's squad for Asia Cup 2025 is likely to be announced next week. There has been plenty of buzz around the Men in Blue's likely squad for the T20 tournament. We take a closer look at some of the reports that have been doing the rounds in recent days.

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Shubman Gill likely to return to T20I squad for Asia Cup

Team India's Test captain Shubman Gill has not played a T20I since the tour of Sri Lanka in July 2024. In fact, he wasn't even picked in the Men in Blue's 2024 T20 World Cup squad. However, following his stupendous Test performance in England, Gill might win back his place in the T20I team.

As per a report in Revsportz, not only is Gill set to make a comeback to the T20I squad for Asia Cup 2025, he is also likely to replace Axar Patel as vice-captain. All-rounder Axar was rewarded for his consistency by being named deputy to Suryakumar Yadav for India's previous T20I assignment against England at home.

Gill's selection, though, could prove to be a headache when it comes to picking the playing XI. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have done an excellent job as opening pair in recent times, while Suryakumar and Tilak Varma complete a formidable top four. It would be unadvisable to change this batting combination, unless there is an injury or fitness concern.

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Bumrah may play Asia Cup 2025, but conditions apply

There has been a massive debate over Jasprit Bumrah's workload management over the last few weeks. There were mixed views over the team management's decision to rest the pacer for two of the five Tests in England.

Now, according to a recent report in news agency PTI, Bumrah is likely to play the Asia Cup 2025. However, he could be rested for the opening Test of the home series against West Indies in October. The first Test of the two-match series between India and West Indies will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from October 2 to October 6.

India will be confident of beating the West Indies at home, considering the latter are among the weakest teams in Test cricket at the moment. However, the hosts need to be mindful of the fact that they were thumped 3-0 by New Zealand last year. An embarrassment against the Windies would be unacceptable for fans.

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Skipper Suryakumar likely to recover fully by next week

Suryakumar Yadav is set to recover in time for Asia Cup 2025. (Image Credits: Getty Images)

Team India's T20I captain Suryakumar underwent a sports hernia surgery in June in Munich, Germany. According to a report in the TimesofIndia.com, the 34-year-old is likely to recover fully by next week and is expected to spend another week at the NCA.

Suryakumar recently shared a video of his batting practice session at the NCA on his social media handle. While posting the clip on Instagram, he wrote:

"Can't wait to be back doing what I love."

Meanwhile, the TOI report also claimed that Shreyas Iyer completed his fitness assessment between July 27 and July 29. The reported development is interesting since Shreyas hasn't played a T20I since December 2023.

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No place for Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul?

Shreyas apart, the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul are also unlikely to find a place in Team India's Asia Cup 2025 squad. As per a report in PTI, the selectors are unlikely to tinker with the impressive top five comprising Abhishek, Samson, Suryakumar, Varma and Hardik Pandya.

"Abhishek Sharma is world's No. 1 T20 batter in last ICC rankings. Sanju Samson has been fantastic last season with both bat and gloves. So it will certainly be a tough call but Shubman in current form (although in Tests) can't be ignored. He had a good IPL also. Problem for selectors is, there are too many performers at the top of the order," a BCCI source told PTI in a recent report.

While Jaiswal played the last of his 23 T20Is in July 2024, Rahul has been out of favor since the 2022 T20 World Cup. Sai Sudharsan has played only one T20I so far, which was against Zimbabwe in Harare in July 2024.

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Dhruv Jurel, Jitesh Sharma in battle for back-up keeper's slot for Asia Cup 2025

While Samson is set to retain his place as first-choice keeper-batter for Asia Cup 2025, one of Dhruv Jurel or Jitesh Sharma might get the nod as his back-up. Both Jurel and Jitesh are aggressive batters, who can do the finishing job in T20s. As of now, Jitesh might have the slight edge given his IPL 2025 heroics with the willow for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).