Shubman Gill set to miss Asia Cup 2025? Young India batter likely to take opening slot, says report

The Indian senior men’s selection committee is likely to meet on 19 August in order to pick the squad for the Asia Cup. Ahead of the official announcement by the Ajit Agarkar-led committee, a new report by Cricbuzz has revealed that Indian Test captain Shubman Gill and pacer Mohammed Siraj may not find themselves in the squad for the upcoming T20I event.

Notably, Gill scored over 750 runs in the recently concluded England Test series, making him the second-highest run-scoring Indian in a Test series behind only Sunil Gavaskar. Meanwhile, Siraj also impressed in the series as he was the highest wicket-taker and the only pacer to play all five matches.

While Gill also had a great IPL 2025 season, the Cricbuzz report states that the selectors are likely to stick with the pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal is said to be a strong contender for the backup opener slot.

Gill is reportedly trailing in the backup opener race unless coach Gautam Gambhir makes a strong pitch for the Test captain.

Which Indian players could be picked by selectors?

Reportedly, the other batters in contention for the Asia Cup squad are Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Another batting slot is yet to be decided, with Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar as contenders. However, Shreyas Iyer, who had a great season with the bat this year and led Punjab Kings to the final of the IPL, may not find a slot in the squad. Meanwhile, Jitesh Sharma could be the second wicket-keeper in the side.

As for bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah is likely to lead the attack, with the other pacer spots likely to be filled by Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana. Hardik Pandya could be the sole pace-bowling all-rounder in the side.

Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel could be the designated spinners.