No Shubman Gill In Asia Cup Despite 750+ Runs In England? Report Says, "Struggle..."

Will Shubman Gill be picked for the Asia Cup? After a super India vs England Test series, where the skipper in the longest format slammed over 750 run in five matches, the general opinion is that he will be picked for the T20I side on a regular basis from now on. Gill last played in T20Is in July 2024. Since then, India have played series against England, Bangladesh and South Africa but Gill did not get a game. Though he has a century in T20Is, a report in RevSportz has claimed that Gill is 'not' a certainty for Asia Cup squad.

The report also claimed that "to say that Gill will be picked and made vice captain is premature" and 'might struggle' to find a place in a 'set' team. 

The report's logic is that there is no question over Gill's form or class, but the T20I team is quite a set combination  and giving him a place in the side will be unjust to others. According to sources close to developments, to accommodate Gill in the XI, Sanju Samson has to be pushed down the order. Apart from Samson, the other Indian opener is Abhishek Sharma is the number-one ranked T20 batter while Tilak Varma generally bats at No. 3 spot. The report added that "to include Gill could mean not doing justice to the others." 

The newly-appointed Test skipper, Shubman Gill, ate a massive chunk of batting record books following a 754 run outing during the tour of England, which saw him score four centuries in five matches and walk away with the 'Player of the Series' honours. Already a force to be reckoned with in ODIs, having scored 2,775 runs and 22 fifty-plus scores in 55 ODIs, there have been temptations to play him in the upcoming T20 Asia Cup, starting from September 9 onwards.

India will kickstart their campaign from September 10 against the UAE. There have been media reports that Gill could make his return to the T20I team, possibly as a vice-captain. As per reports, he could be in line to receive the ODI leadership once current skipper Rohit Sharma calls it quits, as per ESPNCricinfo.

The question is, does Gill fit in India's T20I plans?. His most recent T20 outing was in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where he scored 650 runs at a strike rate of almost 156, with six fifties in 15 matches and emerged as the fourth-highest run-getter. He is also identified as one of the faces which could dominate all format cricket for India in the coming decade.

But the selection process is still complex, as last time when India played a full-fledged T20I squad, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were still around in the T20 World Cup 2024, with Gill as a travelling reserve outside the main 15 players. Since then, scheduling and injuries have influenced India's selection in T20Is.

After the WC, Gill led a second-string Indian side to series win in Zimbabwe, and July 2024 was the last time he played T20Is for India. He ended the year 2024 with 266 runs in eight T20Is at an average of 38.00, strike rate of 133 and two fifties from the Zimbabwe series, improving his stats overall to 578 runs in 21 matches and innings at an average of 30.42, with a strike rate of over 139, a century and three fifties following an inconsistent string of scores in the start of his T20I career.

Gill was appointed as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy for the T20I series in July, and as Test cricket took priority, Gill was not picked for T20Is, with Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma emerging as India's new top three.

With ANI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

Shubman Gill India Cricket Team Asia Cup 2025 Cricket