3 big reasons why Shubman Gill deserves his T20I selection for Asia Cup 2025

Since India's squad for the Asia Cup was picked on Tuesday (August 19), two players have been in the limelight for different reasons. The first, of course, is Shreyas Iyer who was surprisingly left out of not just the main squad but also the stand-by list as well. It meant that the selectors didn't find him worthy of being among the top-20 cricketers in India's T20I system. While it was despair for Iyer, it was a stylish comeback for Shubman Gill who not only slotted back into the squad but also got elevated to vice-captaincy straightaway.

Initial reports suggested that there was a debate among the selectors for a spot between Iyer and Gill but those now seem to be baseless theories, given that the former didn't even get a spot in the reserves list. Coming to Gill, the common reaction to his selection has been that the BCCI has done its age-old mistake of mixing formats. The 25-year-old recently started his Test captaincy stint with a hard-fought 2-2 draw in England. It was also a tour where he notched up a historic tally of 754 runs in the series. It seemed like leadership sat well on his head and most importantly, Gill's batting seems like it is heading towards the peak his potential always promised. But, did he deserve to be picked in T20Is?

The answer is a resounding yes! Whether he should be part of the XI is another question but with vice-captaincy tag given, the Punjab batter is a certain starter now.

Let us look at the three big reasons why Gill's selection was a no-brainer in the T20I squad.

 

IPL's best batter

Shreyas Iyer smashed 604 runs in IPL 2025 at an astonishing strike-rate of 175 and average of 50, as he led Punjab Kings to their first final in 11 years. While there is merit to the outrage around his non-selection, the same selection applies to Gill's selection. The Gujarat Titans captain scored more runs this year than his counterpart - 650 - and while the strike-rate is lesser, it is still highly impressive at 156. Also, this is Iyer's standout season but for Gill, he has had two outstanding seasons in the last three years. From IPL 2023 onwards, the latter has tallied close to 2000 runs across the last 3 IPL seasons at a sensational strike-rate of 155.

With such numbers, there was no way Gill wasn't going to be picked once he became available for selection.

Continuity in squad selection

Gill hasn't played a T20I since July 2024 but that isn't for any fault of his. With the volume of Test cricket and India's planning for the 2025 ODI Champions Trophy, there was a clear strategy to ensure that the players who played these two formats were managed well. As a result, they weren't picked for T20Is. Apart from Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal was the other notable absentee from the shortest format during this phase. In fact, during Gill's last T20I series, which was in Sri Lanka, he was the vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav. Also, in the Zimbabwe series preceding that tour, Gill was the stand-in captain. Therefore, now with the focus back to T20 cricket with the World Cup next year, Gill's form and caliber demanded a recall to the side.

 

High skill-set against pace and spin

Gill is arguably the most complete batter in the Indian setup in the current generation. He is supremely comfortable against pace and bounce, and can hammer spin for fun. The only question that was ever there around him was about his intent but in the last three IPL seasons, that seems to have gone down the drain. Like any ambitious player, Gill is continuously working on improving his range in power-hitting. He may not be the ultra-aggressive smasher like an Abhishek Sharma or even Sanju Samson but Gill's class in strokeplay is in a league of its own.