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Shubman Gill not included in Asian Games squad: The Asian Games will be played in 2026, and Shubman Gill is not among the long list of cricketers sent to the IOA for the selection of the India Men’s T20I squad. The Indian team might currently be the strongest team in Asia in terms of cricket, but the Asian Games bring along a sense of pride for the nation.
India won the gold medal in both men’s and women’s cricket in the last edition of the Asian Games in 2022. Under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s leadership, the Indian team managed to win its first-ever Asian Games Men’s Gold medal. However, this time he might not be seen in the same role as a captain, even if he is picked in the squad.
Why is Shubman Gill not part of the Asian Games squad?
Recently, the BCCI has sent a long list of cricketers to the Indian Olympic Association for selection of the squad for the Asian Games. However, a few of the major absentees include Indian captain Shubman Gill.
As per recent reports from PTI journalist Kushan Sarkar, Shubman Gill will not be able to represent India in the Asian Games, as he will be seen leading the Indian Men’s Cricket team against the West Indies in a long white-ball series. The Asian Games clash with the bilateral series against the West Indies. So Shubman Gill will be captaining the national side.
The Asian Games will mark the cricket leg starting from the 17th of September, while India’s ODI leg of the West Indies series begins on the 27th of September and will be followed by a five-match T20I series as well.
World Cup-winning captain absent from Asian Games
Several players, including big names like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, and Ishan Kishan, have been named in the list that has been sent to the IOA. However, their participation would also be doubtful, citing the clash with the West Indies series.
Longlist to IOA: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Ayush Badoni, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Vipraj Nigam, Harshit Rana, Yash Thakur, Washington Sundar.
Another major absentee was India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. Even if Yadav represents India against the West Indies, the T20I leg of the bilaterals begins much after the Asian Games end on the 3rd of October.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to be fast-tracked into India’s T20I squad with the Asian Games
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is one of the players in the list of names sent to the IOA, and if he is not already included in India’s team by then, he is most likely to make his India debut in the Asian Games.
Several new players, Anukul Roy, Harsh Dubey, Vipraj Nigam, and Yash Thakur, will make their India debut in the Asian Games if they are picked for the squad traveling to Japan.
Sooryavanshi, though 15 years old, would still be fast-tracked due to his acute ball-striking ability and his sheer dominance at the top of the innings. He broke several IPL records in his first full season for the Royals and became the highest-scoring uncapped batter in the history of the IPL with 776 runs across 16 matches.
