Mumbai, Aug 19
The national selectors for the men's team sprung a pleasant surprise for the Test team captain Shubman Gill by including him in the T20I team and elevating him as vice-captain under Suryakumar Yadav while at the same time bringing in T20 World Cup stars Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav for the Asia Cup, to be held in the United Arab Emirates from September 9.
The Ajit Agarkar-led committee attempted to strike a balance, giving preference to T20 credentials for some players while accommodating the biggest star of the Indian cricket firmament - Shubman Gill, clearly indicating that current form will not be ignored, even if that was in the longest format. Gill was the star of India's tour of England, compiling a mammoth 752 runs, including a double century.
Squad: Suryakumar 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.