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India celebrating the wicket of Jacob Bethell of England during the 1st T20i Match between India and England held at the Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata, India on the 22nd January 2025. (Sportzpics)
India Squad for Asia Cup 2025: The BCCI on Tuesday announced the Indian squad for the Asia Cup, bringing an end to months-long speculation and rumours. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team while Shubman Gill will be his deputy.
Gill returned to the T20I set up after leading India in the Test format against England where they tied the series 2-2.
India will start their campaign against UAE on September 9, followed by the blockbuster clash with Pakistan on September 14. The Men in Blue will wrap up their group stage assignments on October 19 with the match against Oman.
After the recent geopolitical tensions between Pakistan and India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had threatened to pull out of the ACC general body meeting that was slated to be held in Dhaka on Wednesday, chaired by ACC president and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi. However, with the BCCI and Sri Lanka Cricket chiefs attending the meeting through video conferencing, the schedule for the September event was finalised.
With only six months left until the next T20 World Cup iteration to be played in India and Sri Lanka, the continental tournament will return to the T20 format. The previous edition of the Asia Cup was played in the ODI format on the road to the 2023 Cricket World Cup, where India demolished hosts Sri Lanka to lift the title.
While the BCCI are the designated host, the tournament will be played in a neutral setting in the United Arab Emirates with eight teams in contention. Besides India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh the competition will comprise Hong Kong, UAE and Oman.
India and Pakistan last met in an ODI during the Champions Trophy, with India beating Pakistan by six wickets on the back of Virat Kohli’s century. Their last T20 meeting came during the 2024 T20 World Cup in New York with a Rohit Sharma-led Indian side edging their rivals by six runs.
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Full squad: 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
Asia Cup 2025 schedule
Match No | Teams | Date |
1. | Afghanistan vs Hong Kong | Sept 9 |
2. | India vs UAE | Sept 10 |
3. | Bangladesh vs Hong Kong | Sept 11 |
4. | Pakistan vs Oman | Sept 12 |
5. | Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka | Sept 13 |
6. | India vs Pakistan | Sept 14 |
7. | UAE vs Oman | Sept 15 |
8. | Sri Lanka vs Hong Kong | Sept 15 |
9. | Bangladesh vs Afghanistan | Sept 16 |
10. | Pakistan vs UAE | Sept 17 |
11. | Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan | Sept 18 |
12. | India vs Oman | Sept 19 |
13. | B1 vs B2 | Sept 20 |
14. | A1 vs A2 | Sept 23 |
15. | A2 vs B1 | Sept 24 |
16. | A1 vs B2 | Sept 25 |
17. | A2 vs B2 | Sept 26 |
18. | A1 vs B1 | Sept 27 |
19. | Final | Sept 28 |