Shubman Gill vs Yashasvi Jaiswal - who should India pick in their squad for Asia Cup 2025?

Only nine runs separated Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) run-scoring charts. Both of them were in the fray to be in the World Cup squad, but with India proceeding with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as the opening pair, they both missed out on making an appearance. Jaiswal was in the main squad, while Gill had to settle for a spot among the travelling reserves.

A lot has transpired in the last two years, and although they have been performing at their best, they are still not outright certainties in the T20I playing XI. A lot of it has to do with India's immense talent pool, resulting in some serious competition.

The upcoming 2025 Asia Cup proves to be the first step on the road towards the 2026 T20 World Cup, and early signs indicate that there might be a spot for only one of them in the final squad.

As far as abilities are concerned, there is nothing to separate the duo as they are both capable of fulfilling the role. In fact, if circumstances were different, Gill and Jaiswal might have been the undisputed T20I opening pair after the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, since there are a plethora of other factors at play, only ability does not have the final say in terms of selection.

On that note, let us take a look at who among Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal should be picked for the 2025 Asia Cup.

#1 The Leadership Factor

Recent reports suggested that Shubman Gill is in contention to become the Indian T20I vice-captain. Given that he already holds the role in ODI cricket, and is the captain of the Test team, it comes as no surprise. The tag that leadership carries is quite a heavy one, assuring immunity of sorts, at least to a certain extent.

If Gill ends up in the leadership group amongst the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya in the ongoing T20I transition, it would be an absolute game-changer for his T20I career.

Given how he has managed to add the leadership ability to his resume, it gives him a massive advantage over Jaiswal, who, unfortunately, might have to wait for his time, despite an average of 36.15 and a strike rate of over 160 in T20Is.

From a pure leadership standpoint, the left-handed batter is light years behind Gill, who has been leading in the IPL for two seasons, and has entered into the international circuit as well.

India's T20I team is also in a phase where they need as much leadership experience as they can in the aftermath of Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, and Virat Kohli. With Jasprit Bumrah not a regular feature in the side, it only leaves behind candidates like Shubman Gill and Axar Patel to assist the bonafide seniors.

#2 India will be pushing hard for a left-right opening combination

Since the 2024 T20 World Cup, or in a way, since Gautam Gambhir has taken over as Team India head coach, India have always gone with a left-hand-right-hand opening combination in the shortest format. With a pool of four players in Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Shubman Gill, and Abhishek Sharma, a dedicated effort has meant that almost all possible left-right combinations out of the four have been tried and tested.

The run of T20I games over the last year has established that Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are the top performers. The pair tick off all the boxes, right from being a left-right combination, to having developed chemistry batting together for three series in a row now.

But now that the shortest format is once again India's top priority, they have a bigger pool to select from. Given Abhishek Sharma's meteoric rise, which includes two hundreds, a rare strike rate of close to 200, and a No.1 spot in the T20I rankings, he is likely to be the first-choice candidate in the Asia Cup. That degree of explosiveness is quite hard to replicate, and it helps him stand out from the rest.

With that spot locked in, it severely hampers Yashasvi Jaiswal's chance to be in the squad. Being a right-handed batter, who complements Sharma's ultra-aggressive approach, Gill suits the role much better.

#3 Shubman Gill has a strong chance of featuring if India remain unconvinced of the No.3 spot

Having Sanju Samson as an opener worked out well for India since he was able to be at his best and contribute, while also allowing the team to stack the middle order as much as possible with batters without having to slot in a wicket-keeper.

He has shown enough since his return to make his case as the first-choice wicket-keeper, and holds a significant lead over the likes of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jitesh Sharma. But, given Shubman Gill's image and merit, it might not be unrealistic to think that India might shake up the combination altogether to accommodate him, especially since similar instances have happened before.

But, there might just be a combination that might allow both of them to feature together. While most of India's combination is set, there is just a slight bit of uncertainty regarding the No.3 spot. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have been going back and forth for a while, and if the skipper opts to be the backbone at No.4, it leaves No.3 up for grabs.

Tilak Varma did a stellar job in the role during the South Africa tour, but fizzled away during the home series against England. Sanju Samson is certainly a viable candidate for the role, leaving room at the top for one more opener, which in all likelihood might be Gill over Jaiswal.

Samson has plenty of experience playing at No.3, including 94 innings in the IPL, averaging 38.22 with a strike rate of 143.33.

If the team insists on having Tilak Verma in the setup, then they might have to push him down to no.5, which leaves the likes of Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh in a tough spot.