Sunil Gavaskar names his India playing 11 for Asia Cup 2025; Leaves out Rinku Singh

Sunil Gavaskar backed Sanju Samson to bat in the middle-order.

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has named his Indian XI for Asia Cup 2025. What caught the attention of many was that he left out Rinku Singh, who is considered one of the best finishers in Indian cricket currently. 

The Indian squad for Asia Cup 2025 was announced on Tuesday (19th August) as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) picked a 15-member squad. The team will be captained by Suryakumar Yadav, with Shubman Gill being the vice-captain of the side. 

Superstars in Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal weren’t picked, and it became the biggest talking point. The rest of the squad was pretty expected, with the BCCI retaining the core players who have been there with the squad after ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 

After the Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was announced, Sunil Gavaskar shared his take on what XI India can field in the tournament. According to him, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma will open the innings, pushing Sanju Samson in the middle order. 

“Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma to open because of the left-hand-right-hand combination. Sanju Samson will also be in the mix but his place in the batting order will be decided according to the situation,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Sports Tak.

Sunil Gavaskar backed Tilak Varma to bat at three, followed by skipper Suryakumar Yadav at four. He also didn’t pick Shivam Dube and instead went with just two all-rounders in Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya in his Indian XI for Asia Cup 2025. 

In the spin department, Sunil Gavaskar picked Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy, while Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh were two fast bowlers that featured in his XI for the Asia Cup 2025. 

Sunil Gavaskar’s Indian XI for the Asia Cup 2025 

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (vc), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh 

Asia Cup 2025 will begin on 9th September with the final scheduled to be played on 28th September. All the games will be played across two venues in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. India will play their first game on 10th September against the UAE.

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