Sanju Samson might find it hard to feature in the Playing XI of the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2025. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for the tournament with some notable omissions from the team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Tuesday announced the Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2025, with some big decisions made by the selection panel. Shubman Gill has been named vice-captain of the team as he makes a return to the T20I format. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah has also been picked in the team that will play the Asia Cup, starting from September 9.
There have been some notable omissions from the squad, with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Washington Sundar missing out on the 15-member team. The squad features three opening combinations in Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and the vice-captain Gill. There is a spare batter in Rinku Singh.
The pace bowling combination has the likes of Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, with all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube adding to the pace battery. Meanwhile, the spin options are Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy.
Here is India’s squad for the Asia Cup:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Meanwhile, there might be some players who can miss out on playing a single match in the Asia Cup. Here are those three players.
1 – Sanju Samson: With Gill coming into the squad for the tournament and being named the vice-captain, there could be a scenario in which Sanju Samson might miss out. Chief selector Agarkar revealed that Samson and Gill are “two very good opening options to have alongside Abhishek Sharma”, and a call will be taken in Dubai.ย
This indicates that Abhishek is locked as the first opener, and with Gill being the vice-captain, his place seems certain too. Therefore, it would be difficult to put Samson in the Playing XI unless there is some movement down the order.
2 – Harshit Rana: Harshit Rana is the third pacer in the Indian team after Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh. With India already having two pace options in Hardik and Dube, who are certain to be in the Playing XI, there might be no place for Harshit in the Playing XI.
3 – Rinku Singh: Rinku Singh might find it hard to play in the Asia Cup as he is the spare batter in the team, according to Agarkar. Rinku looks trailing in the middle-order race with Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel looking locked-in.