The senior men's national selection committee has chosen the 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. In the inclusion of Shubman Gill, Axar Patel has been removed from the vice-captaincy role. Former Indian cricketer has reacted to this decision, as he is disappointed with it.  

Indian Test captain Shubman Gill, who is also the vice-captain in the ODI side, has returned to the T20I format, as he has been selected for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host between September 9 and 28. He last played a T20I match in July 2024, when India toured Sri Lanka. Before that tour, while India toured Zimbabwe, Gill led the Indian T20I side for all five matches. Now, for the Asia Cup 2025, Gill will play the deputy captain role of Suryakumar Yadav.  

See Also: Why no Shreyas Iyer in Asia Cup 2025 squad?

Axar did no wrong: Mohammad Kaif

Gill has replaced Axar Patel in the T20I vice-captaincy role, while the all-rounder will continue his playing role for the national team. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif, the 2000 U19 World Cup-winning captain, feels that Axar didn't do any wrong that he lost his T20I vice-captain role, and he deserved a proper explanation about this. 

I hope Axar Patel was informed about his removal from vice-captaincy in advance and he didn't come to know about it from the press conference. Axar did no wrong so he deserves an explanation. @akshar2026

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 19, 2025

India will face Pakistan in Group A of Asia Cup 2025

India will start the Asia Cup 2025 from Group A, where they will face Pakistan, UAE, and Oman. The top two teams of the group will advance to the Super Four of the tournament. Apart from the 15-member squad, the selection committee also chose five standby players for the tournament. 

India’s squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (Captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel