Asia Cup 2025 selection dilemma: India’s bench strength to leave big names out

Moneycontrol's predicted India squad for Asia Cup 2025. (Photo: BCCI)

With the Indian team for the Asia cup all set to be picked tomorrow (August 19), the truth is the selectors have a real task at hand to leave a few gun players out. Will Shubman Gill, red ball captain and man in form, be an automatic choice? Can Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was the reserve opener in the World T-20 in 2024, hold his place?

Will the selectors opt for continuity and prefer Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Verma in the top 3 who have all delivered for India in the last twelve months? With Surya Kumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya to follow, India has enough fire power in the top five. Where does Shreyas Iyer, another gun player, figure in the scheme of things?

In fact, what is interesting is that the five who are set to miss out or not make the final eleven in Dubai are as good and as explosive. If it is Samson and Sharma to open in one team, it could well be Gill and Jaiswal to do the job in the other! Now to think that one of the two will not make the cut is evidence how spoilt India is with white ball riches! Add Ruturaj Gaikwad to this list for he too had made quite an impression the last time he was given an opportunity.

If its Tilak who is the preferred choice at number 3 for the Asia cup, the man who could miss out is Shreyas Iyer. The truth is he’d walk into any other team in the world on current form. An excellent player of spin, Shreyas had an excellent Champions Trophy and knows the conditions in Dubai.

Moving on to the all rounder’s slot, the ones to miss out could be Nitish Reddy not to forget Krunal Pandya who had a very good IPL. Shivam Dube too should be discussed for he played a stellar hand in the T-20 world cup final a year earlier while Pandya made a terrific comeback in the IPL and brings in a wealth of experience to the middle.

In bowling Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are the two pace bowling certainties with Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami all set to miss out. For the back up keeper’s lot it could be one between Dhruv Jurel or Jitesh Sharma. Finally, if Kuldeep Yadav makes the cut, as is expected, it will be Ravi Bishnoi who will miss out.

Seeing the names above there is a school of thought, which says that should India send two teams, A and B, these two teams have the potential of making the final on 28 September. While there is real merit in the argument, the credit for this bench strength goes to the IPL. It is India’s billion dollar league that has now created this talent pool and given the selectors a real pleasant headache. With the IPL standing true to the talent meets opportunity slogan, India’s white ball cricket has never been better. Needless to say, India will go into the home world cup in February March 2026 not just as defending champions but also as favourites.

If the selectors pick a 17 member squad instead of 15 almost all these tough calls can be avoided. Is that the easy solution?

Moneycontrol's 17 for Asia Cup:

Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Verma, Surya Kumar Yadav (Captain), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma/Dhruv Jurel, Arshdeep Singh, Jaspreet Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarty, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube.