The Indian cricket team will be back in action in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. The defending champions will start their campaign with a match against United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Dubai International Cricket
Stadium on September 10. India are coming with a new looking team in the Asia Cup this time with senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma not being part of the squad.
Suryakumar Yadav will lead India in Asia Cup 2025 while Shubman Gill has been appointed as his vice-captain for the upcoming tournament. Apart from that, there are also several star players who will be seen taking charge for Men in Blue in Asia Cup. However, it will be interesting to see which players will find a place in the playing XI. In the following, we will have a look at India’s probable playing XI for Asia Cup 2025.
India’s probable playing XI for Asia Cup 2025
Openers: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill
Current number one T20I batter Abhishek Sharma can be seen opening the innings with vice-captain Shubman Gill. This also means that Sanju Samson isn’t going to be a first choice opener for the Asia Cup. Abhishek and Gill can turn out to be a great opening pair where Abhishek can play aggressively and give a good start in the powerplay, while Gill can anchor the innings and guide the team towards a big total.
Middle-order: Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Jitesh Sharma
Star young batter Tilak Varma can return to bat at number three in the T20I format. The left-hander has looked in great touch in the shortest format in recent times including two centuries in South Africa last year and was also impressive in the home T20I series against England. After that, skipper Suryakumar Yadav can be seen batting at number four followed by wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma.
All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel
India will have star players like Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel as their key all-rounders for Asia Cup 2025. Pandya can play as an attacking batter in the middle-order and key fast bowler. On the other hand, Axar is also known for his attacking batting style and can turn the match around with his spin bowling.
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana
Talking about the bowling lineup, players like Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav are likely to be top choices in the Indian playing XI for Asia Cup 2025. Bumrah is returning to the T20I setup for the first time after the T20 World Cup 2024 and will be the spearhead fast bowler while Kuldeep Yadav will play as a key spinner. Apart from that, Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana are also likely to be included in India’s playing XI for Asia Cup 2025.
