Asia Cup 2025: 'Happy to have him back' – Suryakumar Yadav on Shubman Gill's return as vice-captain
welcomed the appointment of
as vice-captain for the upcoming Asia Cup, starting September 9 in the UAE. Gill, who is also India's Test captain, returns to the T20 format after his last appearance in July 2023, signaling selectors' vision of grooming him as a future leader across all formats.
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Gill's inclusion in the T20 setup comes after his impressive performances in the IPL and the Test series in England, where he helped India secure a 2-2 draw. He was not part of India's victorious T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean last year.
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"The last time when he played T20Is for India, post T20 World Cup, when we went to Sri Lanka, not Zimbabwe. I was leading then and he was the vice-captain and that's when we started a new cycle for T20 World Cup.
After that he got busy with all the Test series. He did not get the opportunity to play T20 cricket because he got busy playing Test cricket and also the Champions Trophy. He is there in the squad and we are happy to have him," said Suryakumar.
The squad also features
as the second wicketkeeper alongside
, earning his spot after a successful IPL season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
"Post last T20WC, we spoke a lot on how to go about it. We spoke about let's not think of milestones ahead, follow your journey.
Been a completely different cricketer post that. The way he performed in the IPL and domestic tournaments he played, he's done really well, has earned his spot again," Suryakumar said about Jitesh's selection.
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Suryakumar also supported the inclusion of pacer Harshit Rana in the squad. "Harshit Rana has played really well in the IPL. I think he was a concussion replacement in the Pune game, he was the man of the match in the last game he played for India.
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We back his skills and we know he can deliver," he said.
Rana is likely to be a reserve option with
and Arshdeep Singh expected to lead the bowling attack in the Asia Cup.
India's schedule is packed with T20 matches leading up to next year's World Cup at home, with 15 more games planned after the Asia Cup.
"It is the first big tournament after last year's T20 WC. It's a good tournament to test ourselves. Lot of T20s after this also. The journey starts from here," Suryakumar concluded.
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