India Throw Big Surprise In Playing XI vs UAE. Shubman Gill Included, Sanju Samson...

India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl against the United Arab Emirates in their Asia Cup 2025 opener in Dubai on Wednesday. There was plenty of chatter regarding India's opening pair -- whether Sanju Samson will play or not -- following Shubman Gill's addition to the squad as vice-captain. The suspense finally ended on Wednesday as both Samson and Gill were included in the final XI. Jitesh Sharma, who was also in contention to feature as wicketkeeper, did not find a place in the team. (Live Updates: India vs UAE, Asia Cup 2025 | Follow here)

"We'll bowl first. Looks a nice fresh wicket. Humid also today, might be dew later. If we get an opportunity, we're flexible to do anything but today we want to bowl. We came here early, had 3-4 good practice sessions and also a day off," India captain Suryakumar said at the toss.

As per the team sheet, captain Suryakumar Yadav is expected to come in at No 3 ahead of Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson, who are slated to bat Nos 4 and 5 respectively.

India are going in with one specialist pacer in Jasprit Bumrah while the other fast bowling option is Hardik Pandya.

Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy are the two frontline spinners in the playing eleven.

Teams:

United Arab Emirates (Playing XI): Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra(w), Asif Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Haider Ali, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Junaid Siddique, Simranjeet Singh

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy

(With PTI Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team United Arab Emirates Shubman Gill Sanju Samson Asia Cup 2025 India vs United Arab Emirates, Match 2 Cricket