After the intense 5 match series between India and England which ended on Monday, August 4, eyes are now on the T20 format. With the T20 World Cup co hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February 2026 around the corner, teams are starting to get ready.
India, the current champions, last played a T20I series in February 2025. After a 6 month gap they will be back in T20I action at the Asia Cup 2025 which starts on September 9 in the UAE. Since there are no T20Is before this tournament, performances from the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 will be very important when it comes to selection.
Krunal had a good IPL 2025, thanks to his bowling. The left arm spinner picked 17 wickets with an economy rate of 8.2. He also played a match saving innings, scoring 73 not out off 47 balls against Delhi Capitals.
India already has Axar Patel, but they did play both Axar and Ravindra Jadeja in the same team during the T20 World Cup 2024. Krunal’s defensive bowling along with his experience and all round skills makes him a good option – especially on the kind of pitches expected for the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.
The Asia Cup is a very important tournament and India will do everything to win it. Since it’s a few months before the T20 World Cup 2026, expect India to play their strongest team.
Suryakumar Yadav is currently leading the T20I team but there’s a good chance he might miss the Asia Cup as he recently had surgery for a sports hernia. If Suryakumar Yadav can’t play, Hardik Pandya might be chosen as the captain.
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India has many options to choose from but they will stick to what they know works until the T20 World Cup. The batting line up will include Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel. Shubman Gill might also be back in the team keeping the T20 World Cup 2026 in mind.
Here’s a possible team for India at the Asia Cup 2025:
Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah/Harshit Rana, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jitesh Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Krunal Pandya.
