After an intense five-Test series against England that ended in a 2-2 draw, Team India will now turn its attention to the Asia Cup 2025, set to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from September 9 to 28.
Reports suggest that Shreyas Iyer, one of India’s most dependable middle-order batters, is unlikely to feature in the upcoming tournament. Despite his impressive form, including guiding Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final, the team management appears hesitant to alter the current batting combination.
Alongside Shreyas Iyer, Test skipper Shubman Gill, and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal are also expected to miss out. The selectors are reportedly keen on persisting with in-form batters such as Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Tilak Varma, who have delivered consistent results in recent months.
A BCCI source told The Times of India:
“𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕 19 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒊. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝒋𝒊𝒕 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒓.”
The source also revealed that despite Jaiswal’s strong performance in the England series, he has been advised to focus on red-ball cricket for now. Meanwhile, Gill is struggling to find a spot in the T20 side, with the opening pair of Samson and Abhishek Sharma currently preferred.
Shreyas Iyer Still Part of ODI Setup
Though Shreyas Iyer may miss the Asia Cup, he is far from being sidelined permanently. He was India’s best batter in the Champions Trophy 2025, cementing his position at No. 4 in the ODI format. Should he not make the Asia Cup squad, he will represent the West Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2025, captained by his Mumbai teammate, Shardul Thakur.
“𝑰𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒑. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝑫𝑰𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂’𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒔,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Suryakumar Yadav to Attend Selection Meeting
India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, who has been recovering from a sports hernia at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, is also set to attend the squad selection meeting in Mumbai on August 19. While earlier reports hinted at his travel to Japan, he is now back in Bengaluru and will be available for the selection discussions.
India’s Asia Cup 2025 Fixtures
The Asia Cup will kick off on September 9 in Abu Dhabi with a clash between Afghanistan and Hong Kong. India will open their campaign on September 10 against the UAE in Dubai, followed by their much-anticipated encounter against Pakistan on September 14 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
As the defending champions, India will be aiming to extend their dominance by clinching a record ninth Asia Cup title. Their last triumph came in 2023, when they defeated Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in Colombo.
Also Read: Afghanistan to Face Bangladesh in UAE for White-Ball Series This October