BCCI Names 15-Member Squad for Asia Cup; Iyer, Jaiswal Among Top Names Missing

"Gill's form in England was something we expected but he exceeded it all," chief selector Ajit Agarkar said during the squad announcement press conference here.

There were some lingering doubts on Bumrah's availability largely due to the proximity to the home Test series against the West Indies in October.

But the selectors opted to pick and this will be Bumrah's first T20 tournament since last year's World Cup.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav too has been drafted in, while Jitesh Sharma will be the back-up wicketkeeper batter.

Playing XI:

Ajit Agarkar put the ball in Captain Suryakumar and Head Coach Gambhir's court, talking about the playing XI.   

"Gill was vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup so even at that point, clearly we were thinking along those lines. Now that he's available, at least he (Suryakumar) has two options. It's their headache to pick the batting lineup (now); ours was to pick the 15 and so. But we've got some real depth as far as T20 cricket is concerned and we are very active with it," Agarkar said.

Top Players to Miss Out:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was reportedly all set to be named in the squad as a backup opener, missed out. Nevertheless, he was among the five standby players chosen by the selectors. Prasidh Krishna (Purple Cap winner - IPL 2025), Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel are other four in the list.

The 23-year-old left-hand batter was the lead scorer for his franchise Rajasthan Royals with 559 runs in the IPL 2025 season. 

Speaking about Jaiswal missing the squad, Agarkar said it is 'unfortunate'.

"It's unfortunate, with regards to Jaiswal, with Abhishek Sharma in the mix and he can bowl a little bit as well. It's unfortunate Jaiswal has had to miss out," he added.

Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan are among other prominent names to be missed from the final list. Talking about Iyer, Agarkar said, "With due respect to Shreyas, who can he replace? It's not his fault, but neither ours."

Shreyas Iyer has last played a T20I in December 2023, when he scored a fine half-century in a win over Australia, but he could not a find a place in the shortest format thereafter and a stellar run in the early part of this year, including the IPL 2025, did not change the status quo.

Iyer, not only led his side-Punjab Kings to finals but also scored 604 runs in the 2025 IPL season.

On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan won the Orange Cap for scoring most runs in the 2025 season, alongwith the Emerging player award. He had an impressive season with 759 runs in 15 innings. While he secured a spot in the test side, he failed to get picked for the T20-format Asia Cup.

Senior batter KL Rahul was also left out. After having an impressive run with the bat in England during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the 33-year-old was left out of the T20I squad. The right-handed batter had an impressive run during the IPL with 539 runs in 13 innings scoring at an average of 53.90.  

The news must have come as a disappointment, to KL, who clearly expressed his intentions of returning to the T20 side with T20 World Cup in mind right after the IPL season.

Moreover, the saviour in England, Mohammad Siraj was rested. While Washington Sundar was put on standby. 

Agarkar clarified that no player who was left out from the squad had any issues with "fitness."

India is placed in Group A of the Asia Cup alongside Pakistan, Oman, and UAE. While Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong are placed in Group B.

India squad for Asia Cup:

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.