When India’s T20I squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was announced on Tuesday (August 19), there was a notable inclusion in it.
Test skipper Shubman Gill, who recently led India to 2-2 draw on the tour of England, returned to the T20I fold for the first time since July 2024. The 25-year-old was not only added to the squad but was named vice-captain.
With his comeback, Gill replaces Axar Patel as deputy to Suryakumar Yadav in India’s T20I setup. It is worth mentioning here that Gill was the vice-captain in the series against Sri Lanka last year, and Axar was only elevated to this role in the former’s absence.
However, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes Axar has done nothing wrong and deserves to know why he was sacked from the leadership role. He also hopes that the selectors and Axar communicated about the vice-captaincy being taken away.
“I hope Axar Patel was informed about his removal from vice-captaincy in advance, and he didn't come to know about it from the press conference. Axar did no wrong, so he deserves an explanation,” Kaif wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Axar Patel has represented India in 71 T20Is so far, scoring 535 runs and claiming 71 wickets. He led Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL 2025 season, but the franchise failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra also sympathised with Axar, saying that it is a bit unfortunate that spin all-rounder lost his vice-captaincy to Gill.
"I also feel that it was a little unfair to Axar that he is suddenly not the vice-captain any more. But that’s my opinion. Team looks fine though," Chopra said in a video posted on his X account.
India will open their Asia Cup 2025 campaign against UAE on September 10 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
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
