India’s T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill has checked into the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for fitness assessment and preparations ahead of travelling to Dubai for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, PTI reported on Saturday (August 30).

For the continental showpiece, the 15-member Indian squad will assemble in Dubai on September 4. The Men in Blue will open their campaign against the UAE on September 10.

A bout of flu had forced Gill out of the first-round Duleep Trophy fixture. He was supposed to lead the North Zone in the tournament, marking the beginning of India’s domestic season 2025-26.

After was recovering from illness at his Chandigarh home, Shubman travelled to Bengaluru. He might fly out of Bengaluru to Dubai as this time the players will reach Dubai in a staggered manner from their respective locations, unlike other occasions when the team would first gather in Mumbai before departure.

Besides Gill, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma too has arrived at the CoE for pre-tournament preparations. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur too are set to arrive at CoE for the mandatory pre-season assessment, the report stated.

Thakur is set to lead West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinals, while Jaiswal and Sundar, who are on the standby list for the Asia Cup, are also set to participate in the last four matches of the domestic season opener.

Some of the other Asia Cup-bound players, such as Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav are already featuring in the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, South Zone will have to name a new skipper for the Duleep Trophy semifinals (September 4-7) as Tilak Varma is part of the Asia Cup squad. Kerala's Mohammed Azharuddeen is the vice-captain, and he could be promoted to the leadership role or they have more experienced candidates in R Sai Kishore, Devdutt Padikkal or N Jagadeesan.

(With PTI Inputs)