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The wait is finally over as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squads for the upcoming T20I series for the tour in the United Kingdom, where Team India will face Ireland and England for two separate T20I series, and then the Asian Games 2026.
Before the team selection, fans’ curiosity was at its peak, mainly because of the captaincy role. As per the previous claims and many reports, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee had made up their minds to sack the 2026 ICC T20I World Cup captain, Suryakumar Yadav, and appoint Shreyas Iyer as the new leader of the team. There were multiple other names, like Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, in the speculations.
Men in Blue will enter this year’s Asian Games as the defending champions. Ahead of the event, BCCI named an extended list of 30 players, from whom they have picked the main team, which will fly to Aichi Prefecture and its capital city, Nagoya, in Japan.
Ahead of the announcement, the board shared a photo from the meeting room, including top officials like the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
“The Men's Selection Committee Meeting for #TeamIndia's T20I squad announcement for the tours of Ireland & England and the Asian Games in Japan, as well as India A's tour of Sri Lanka (multi-day games), is underway at the BCCI HQ in Mumbai,” the caption of the post reads.
India squad for Asian Games 2026 - Full player list
Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma (VC), Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Here's a look at #TeamIndia's squad for the Asian Games 2026 in Japan this September 👏#AsianGames pic.twitter.com/euMfmhWEcN
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 6, 2026
Who is India's captain for the Asian Games 2026?
Shreyas Iyer will lead the team in the event.
India Asian Games 2026 schedule and fixtures
The men’s cricket tournament will start with preliminary qualifiers on September 24 and will run until October 3.
- September 24–26: Preliminary qualifiers
- September 28–29: Quarter-finals
- October 1: Semi-finals
- October 3: Bronze medal match and gold medal match
The Men’s matches will be played in two daily slots at 5:30 AM IST and 10:30 AM IST.
Key selections and biggest talking points
The appointment of Shreyas Iyer as the newest captain of the T20 International squad is undoubtedly the most talk about points in today's press conference. While the move was anticipated early, fans and the entire cricket fraternity were waiting eagerly for the official stamp on paper.
Ajit Agarkar and Co. not only snubs Suryakumar Yadav from the captaincy role, but also excluded him from the team as well, which is a massive call as Yadav led the team to glory in the 2026 T20I World Cup.
The inclusion of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the international side of the shortest format is another huge call made by the selectors.
