Gavaskar sees Gill’s vice-captaincy as step towards future leadership.
BCCI selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar and skipper Suryakumar Yadav on Tuesday (August 19) announced India's 15-member T20I squad for the Asia Cup 2025 at a press conference in Mumbai.
The biggest talking point from the presser was the inclusion of Test skipper Shubman Gill, who recently led India to 2-2 series draw on the tour of England.
Despite the top-order firing through Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and skipper Suryakumar Yadav himself, Gill was not only added to the squad but was named vice-captain.
Speaking to India Today, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar weighed in on the decision to reinstate Gill into the T20I fold and hand him a leadership role, calling it a move that sets the young batter firmly on course to become India’s all-format leader in the years to come.
“He scored over 750 runs just a couple of weeks ago. You cannot exclude a player in that kind of form. Giving him the vice-captaincy is also a way of telling him that in the future, he could be leading the T20 side. I think it’s a very, very good selection,” Gavaskar said.
The 76-year-old also praised Gill’s temperament, recalling how he impressed while leading a second-string side in Zimbabwe last year.
“He was very impressive in England as well. To score 750-plus runs while leading the side for the first time shows how well he handled pressure. This vice-captaincy is a clear sign that he is destined to lead India in the future,” Gavaskar added.
Gill’s inclusion marks his return to T20Is for the first time since June 2024. With his elevation, the 25-year-old replaces Axar Patel as deputy to Suryakumar.
In the squad announcement presser, Suryakumar Yadav justified Shubman Gill’ selection in the Asia Cup squad as vice-captain.
“In my opinion, the last time Shubman Gill played a T20I for India was when we went to Sri Lanka. When I was leading, he was the vice-captain. That's where we started the new cycle for the T20 World Cup. After that, he got busy with all the Test series. He didn't get an opportunity to play T20Is because he was busy with Test cricket and the Champions Trophy,” Suryakumar told reporters.
“He is in the squad and we are happy to have him. This is the first big tournament we are playing after the T20 World Cup. We played a few bilaterals, but this is a good tournament to test ourselves. There are a lot of T20S before we play the first game of the T20 World Cup. This is where the journey starts for the tournament,” he further remarked.
India squad for Asia Cup 2025: Surya Kumar 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
Stand-bys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal