Yet, cricket — akin to almost everything else in life — is all but a product. And a product survives only if the market wants it. The market has spoken: the Asia Cup remains indispensable. Hence, we are now only a few hours shy of the squad announcement for the tournament which commences on 9 September.
Prior to that, however, let’s check our ideal squad.
Openers — Sanju Samson & Abhishek Sharma
There is an ongoing, unceasing chatter regarding the uncertainty of Sanju Samson’s future in Rajasthan Royals. In the Indian team, however, his place is as certain as anyone else’s. With 487 runs at a strike of 171.48, he is India’s second-highest run-scorer in T20Is since the 2024 T20 World Cup. Indeed, India’s last T20I series against England saw the wicketkeeper-batter struggling, but it was overshadowed by three centuries in the five innings preceding it.
What can words do to justify Abhishek Sharma’s selection that numbers cannot? He is India’s leading run-scorer since Sharma and Kohli’s departure, with 535 runs at a strike rate of 193.84. Among batters from top-10 nations with 350+ runs in this period, no one matches his strike rate. Moreover, he scored a couple of centuries as well — against Zimbabwe in Harare, and against England at the Wankhede Stadium.
Batters — Tilak Varma, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav
There’s a couple of ways to assess the Tilak Varma dilemma. You could either conclude his position is vacant after what was an IPL campaign to forget, or, you could choose to be sensible and acknowledge he has been one of India’s more prolific batters in the post-Sharma, post-Kohli era, scoring 413 runs since the T20 World Cup at an average of 82.60 and a strike rate of 170.66.
For the longest time, and for reasons unknown — albeit, you could make sense of the rationale — India have had the policy of trusting the established status duo over disruptors. Shreyas Iyer, though, is too strong a disruptor to ignore. He scored 604 runs in the IPL at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 175.07, and despite having not played any T20I match since December 2023, his career figures of 1104 runs at an average in excess of 30 is not down at heel.
This is where it gets interesting. Suryakumar Yadav has had a wretched time ever since he has been made the skipper. Merely 160 runs in 14 innings, at an average below 20, is not satisfactory for the Indian skipper by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, considering everything that he has done right in his India career so far, coupled with his 717 runs in the IPL, which made earned him the second place on the leading run-scorers’ list, the team would expect its leader to come good in the UAE.
All-Rounders — Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube
Hardik Pandya should, for all practical purposes, be the first name on the teamlist. The all-rounder followed his T20 World Cup heroics with 320 runs in his last 13 innings, making him the fourth-highest run-scorer for India. That alone is enough to warrant his selection, but just because he has to be boundless to maintain synchronisation with his game, Hardik also has picked up 10 wickets during this phase.
Shivam Dube’s case is interesting, for what meets the eye might not be the correct portrayal. You will not be blamed to think he had a lukewarm IPL, yet, he was Chennai Super Kings’ leading run-scorer with 357 runs. The England series saw him score a 34-ball 53 in Pune and a 13-ball 30 in Mumbai, which is precisely the kind of service an otherwise stacked Indian batting unit would want from the all-rounder in the UAE.
Spinners — Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy
Axar Patel was used — or, since he was the captain, used himself — as a floater for Delhi Capitals in the IPL, and scored 263 runs, which was the fourth-highest for his team. India would not need him to do that, but to bowl economical spells and pick the odd wicket, which he has done efficiently, with 13 wickets at an economy of 7.07 since the T20 World Cup.
Varun Chakaravarthy’s career progression spike was so incredibly steep that it made his IPL 2025 numbers look bleak, when in fact, he did well to pick up 17 wickets at an economy rate of 7.66. Moreover, he has been India’s most effective bowler by far in T20Is since the 2024 T20 World Cup, with 31 wickets at an average of merely 11.26.
Pacers — Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh
Jasprit Bumrah has played a grand total of zero T20I matches since India’s World Cup final win over South Africa, but he is bowling full tilt now, with his workload being managed effectively as well, as he featured in only three of the five Tests in England. At the IPL, Bumrah picked up 18 wickets and had the lowest economy (6.67) by any bowler who had picked more than one wicket.
Should Arshdeep Singh feel hard done by at not getting a chance to make his Test debut when Anshul Kamboj did in England, he would not be wrong. In T20Is, however, his place is as secure as that of Bumrah. India’s leading wicket-taker among pacers in this format since the World Cup, with 20 wickets at an average of 15.15, he also picked up 21 wickets in the IPL.
Bench — Shubman Gill, Jitesh Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
There has to be a backup opener, and despite Yashasvi Jaiswal not doing much wrong in T20Is, there is no reason to remove Shubman Gill. That, he has arguably had the best series by any Indian debutant Test skipper, can still be ignored, considering the format is different. What can’t, and shouldn’t be, is the fact that Gill outscored Jaiswal both in the IPL, and in India’s T20I matches since the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Samson is certain to keep wickets, but there is uncertainty regarding his backup. Jurel has only scored 12 T20I runs so far, but considering his sample size is only of three innings, it will be harsh to criticise the youngster. Perhaps, India will do themselves a favour by giving Jitesh Sharma a second chance, considering his performance for Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the IPL — 261 runs at a strike rate of 176.35.
India have used a number of pacers in the last year, from Mukesh Kumar to Avesh Khan and Harshit Rana. Yet, Prasidh Krishna should make the cut, given his performance in the IPL — 25 wickets, which earned him the purple cap.
Ravi Bishnoi is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is since the T20 World Cup, but he might be low in confidence after a nightmarish IPL, which saw him pick only 9 wickets before getting benched by the inexperienced Digvesh Rathi. Kuldeep Yadav, on the contrary, picked 15 wickets in the IPL, and should find his name on the team sheet.