Team India is gearing up for the Asia Cup season eyeing their ninth title in the history. No doubt team India has all the ingredients to clinch the title and they would be eager to do that after claiming the T20 World Cup title in 2024.
Led by SuryaKumar Yadav, it will be the first time the side will be playing a mega event without the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
With Gautam Gambhir at the helm as head coach, the Men in Blue enter their third T20-format Asia Cup eyeing a record ninth continental crown.
“We are playing T20 as a team after a long time. But we were here three-four days back, had some good time together as a team, and we are really looking forward to this tournament,” said the confident Indian captain in the pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday.
Fixtures: (Group A)
10 September – India vs UAE, Dubai
14 September – India vs Pakistan, Dubai
19 September – India vs Oman, Dubai
Squad:
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vc), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson
Reserve players: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Squad Overview:
Strengths:
India has announced a strong squad for the Asia Cup while the place of Sanju Samson is still debatable but Shubman Gill and Abishek Sharma can make a deadly combination as openers. They both were on song in the last edition of the IPL 2025. Gill scored 625 runs at a SR of 155 while Sharma accumulated 439 runs at a SR of 193.
The captain, Surya, was the second highest run-scorer in the IPL 2025 and with the middle and lower order containing Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Rinku Singh, the side looks like a proper firepower from top to end. Jitesh Sharma could keep the wickets.
The real struggle might come choosing the bowling options since both Kuldeep and Varun can make into the playing XI given the conditions in the UAE. Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh will make up the pace unit with Hardik Pandya giving the side the third option as a pacer.
Weakness:
The only weakness that could be in India’s side is their experience on the UAe pitches. The venue has been kind to the side as they had poor outings in the T20 World Cup 2021 and Asia Cup 2024. But recently they won the Champions Trophy at the same venue and if anything it will give them enough morale to win Asia Cup 2025 as well.
Also India haven’t played a single T20i game since February. This might bother the side a little but of course, the side has the ability to adapt quickly and nicely.
Key players:
SuryaKumar Yadav
Shubman Gill
Axar Patel
Hardik Pandya
Jasprit Bumrah
Players to watch out for:
Shivam Dube
Rinku Singh
Abhishek Sharma
India enters the Asia Cup 2025 with momentum, talent, and depth. The combination of seasoned match-winners like Bumrah and Pandya with fearless youngsters like Abhishek and Varma creates a well-rounded squad. If the leadership group can strike the right balance in team selection, India has every chance to reclaim regional dominance and build confidence ahead of global tournaments.
