Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has applauded the decision to appoint Shubman Gill as India’s T20I vice-captain ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, calling it a step toward grooming him as a future all-format leader for the country.
Gavaskar praised the selectors for including Gill alongside captain Suryakumar Yadav, noting that the move acknowledges Gill’s maturity and recent performances. The 25-year-old enters the tournament with a T20I average of 30.42, coming off a stellar Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where he amassed 754 runs in five matches to emerge as the highest run-scorer.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 750 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎. 𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻20 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝑮𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.
Gill’s Temperament and Leadership Credentials
Gavaskar highlighted Gill’s calmness under pressure, recalling his leadership of a second-string Indian side in Zimbabwe following the T20 World Cup triumph last year. Gill’s return to T20Is comes after being left out of the format since June 2024, and he now succeeds Axar Patel as vice-captain, reflecting the selectors’ confidence in his leadership across formats.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 750-𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆,” 𝑮𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
India’s Asia Cup 2025 Campaign
The Asia Cup 2025 will be held in the UAE from September 9 to 28. India opens their campaign against the hosts, the UAE, in Dubai on September 10, followed by the high-profile clash with Pakistan on September 14. The final group-stage match is against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
Gill’s inclusion at the top order has sparked a selection debate, with players like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Tilak Varma making strong cases during his absence. The management will face the crucial task of finalising the best XI for the opener, aiming to set a confident tone for the tournament.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025 – Jaiswal Gets Support After Being Left Out of T20I Squad
