The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Team India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025 on August 19. The side witnessed several reforms and one of those was the induction of Shubman Gill,
who will not only return to India’s T20 International (T20I) team but also be the deputy of skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Gill played his last T20I game in Pallekele in July 2024. Shubman will replace Axar Patel in the vice-captaincy role. When India played the last T20I competition against England earlier this year, Axar was the vice-captain of the two-time T20 World Cup champions. Several media reports have claimed Gautam Gambhir persuaded BCCI Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar to appoint Gill as Suryakumar’s deputy.
The vice-captaincy change hasn’t gone well with a section of Team India fans and they are expressing their ire against Gambhir against the removal of Axar from one of the top posts in the current T20 World Champion side. The current India head coach’s critics have come across an old interview of his which is going viral on social media.
In the clip, he expresses his agony of getting axed from India’s vice-captaincy post following India’s loss in the Commonwealth Bank Tri- Series 2011-12. “MS Dhoni captain, main vice-captain, jab woh series khatam hui toh uske baad humne wapas aake Bangladesh jaana tha tri-series kehlne India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Duncan Fletcher coach the humare. Theek hai hum qualify nahi kare, ussey pehle 4-0 haar gaye Test series toh baat yeh hui ki ji Dhoni (MS) ke upar bhi pressure tha. Obviously kaptan hai toh 4-0 haare, triangular series mein bhi final mein qualify nahi kare. Agar koi change huwa ki vice-captain ko hata ke Virat Kohli ko vice-captain banaya gaya. Kabhi aisa hua hai vice-captain ko hataya gaya hua ho aur kaptan wahi ka wahi ho,” said Gambhir in a conversation with The Lallantop in 2018.
Gautam Gambhir’s performance as India head coach in T20Is
Under Gautam Gambhir, India haven’t lost any T20I series thus far. Under his leadership, the Men In Blue won the overseas T20I series in Sri Lanka and South Africa while playing at home, India hammered Bangladesh and England convincingly. In the upcoming Asia Cup, India will participate as the reigning champions.
Suryakumar Yadav’s team will start their campaign against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai on September 10. On September 14, the marquee clash between India and Pakistan will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Men In Green have an upper hand while playing T20Is in Dubai against India. In three matches against each other, India have won one while Pakistan emerged victorious on two occasions.
