'Sanju Samson was playing because Shubman Gill...': Suryakumar Yadav, Ajit Agarkar’s bold remarks on India T20I VC

India National Cricket Team T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav has opened up on Shubman Gill being named as vice-captain for the Asia Cup 2025.

Suryakumar Yadav said that Shubman Gill was always a preferred option for the leadership role in T20Is, and he was out of the setup because of his Test and ODI cricket commitments.

Shubman Gill books a place in the India squad for the Asia Cup

It won't be wrong to say that the Shubman Gill era in Indian cricket has officially begun as the highly-rated player from Punjab is part of the leadership group across formats.

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Gill is the Test captain of India, Rohit Sharma's deputy in ODI cricket, and vice-captain of the T20I team. He surpassed everyone's expectations in his debut Test series as captain and blasted 754 runs at an average of 75.40.

In ODI cricket, he is expected to take over the captaincy soon and has got an exceptional record in 50-over cricket. In 55 games, he has scored 2775 runs at an average of 59.04.

His T20I numbers are not that impressive, as in 21 games, he has scored 578 runs at an average of 30.42 and strike 139.27, but Gill has shown exceptional performances in the last few seasons of IPL, and his numbers are expected to get better.

He is in the squad and we are happy to have him - Suryakumar Yadav

At the press conference, Suryakumar Yadav said that Shubman Gill missed a lot of T20I action for India because of his focus on Tests and ODIs, but is now back in the side, and they are happy to have him.

“In my opinion, the last time Shubman Gill played a T20I for India was when we went to Sri Lanka. When I was leading, he was the vice-captain. That's where we started the new cycle for the T20 World Cup. After that, he got busy with all the Test series. He didn't get an opportunity to play T20Is because he was busy with Test cricket and the Champions Trophy,” Suryakumar Yadav told reporters.

"He is in the squad and we are happy to have him. This is the first big tournament we are playing after the T20 World Cup. We played a few bilaterals, but this is a good tournament to test ourselves. There are a lot of T20s before we play the first game of the T20 World Cup. This is where the journey starts for the tournament,” he added.

Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available - Ajit Agarkar

BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar further gave a reality check, saying that Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma only got the opportunity to open in T20Is because Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were not present in the squad.

“Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available at that point. So was Abhishek. Abhishek's performances clearly make it hard to leave him out. Plus, his bowling is handy. But, like I said, he was the vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup,” said Agarkar.

Notably, one among Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson is expected to open the innings with Abhishek Sharma in the Asia Cup 2025, and the India T20I vice-captain being preferred won't be a surprise.

Also Read: India Women's squad for World Cup 2025 announced: Full team list, fixtures, dates, venues & past records