Asia Cup 2025, India squad SWOT analysis: Batting looks frightening but is there adequate pace back-up?

Asia Cup 2025, India squad SWOT analysis: T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Ajit Agarkar during the press conference (PTI Photo)

Asia Cup 2025, India squad SWOT analysis: On the surface, the 15-member squad India have picked for September’s Asia Cup looks formidable. The big headline was the return of Shubman Gill, while the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer missed out. Here, we put the squad though a SWOT analysis.

Strengths: The batting line-up borders on the intimidating. Regardless of which two from Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson open the batting, there’s Tilak Varma to follow at No. 3 and Mr 360, Suryakumar Yadav, at No. 4. The two all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, can clear the ropes with ease, as can the designated finisher, whether that is Rinku Singh or Shivam Dube. And we shouldn’t forget Jitesh Sharma, who will keep and apply the finishing touches with the bat if Samson is benched.

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Weaknesses: How good is the pace-bowling back-up if, heaven forbid, Jasprit Bumrah can’t get through all the games. Harshit Rana is far from the finished article, while Prasidh Krishna – the standby – too is finding his feet in the international arena. And on pitches likely to favour spin, have India missed a trick by not having a right-arm leg-spinner? The question is, who could they have picked? Yuzvendra Chahal has been out of favour for years, while Ravi Bishnoi needs more than a googly to succeed at this level.

Opportunities: Gill has been parachuted back into the T20 scheme of things after a year away. If he clicks, it’s almost certain that he will be India’s all-format captain once the T20 World Cup on home soil is over. For Harshit, if and when he plays, there’s a chance to firm up a place as the hit-the-deck enforcer, especially with Bumrah’s appearances likely to be rationed in future. For Varun Chakaravarthy, this tournament is a chance to ensure that he’s India’s No. 1 white-ball spinner for the foreseeable future.

Threats: The line-up is packed with stroke-players who can launch rockets for fun. But on what are likely to be slow and low pitches in September, do India have enough batters who can grind it out and do the less glamourless work? Virat Kohli was a master of assessing the conditions and applying accordingly. Shreyas Iyer is currently India’s best player of spin. One has retired from the T20 format, the other can’t even find a place among the standbys.

Squad: Surya Kumar Yadav (Captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.