India’s Best Playing 11 for Asia Cup 2025: India announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 at a media press conference at the Board of Control for Cricket in India headquarters in Mumbai on Tuesday, August 19. Senior men’s selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar and T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav were present at the squad announcement.
Asia Cup 2025 will be held in the United Arab Emirates. The Indian team has been placed in Group A along with Pakistan, Oman, and UAE. Ever since the team was announced, cricket fans on the internet have been wondering what the final playing 11 could look like.
India’s probable playing 11 for Asia Cup 2025
Top order batsmen: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Tilak Verma
The management will be keen to go ahead with the left-right pair of Abhishek Sharma and vice-captain Shubman Gill, which means Sanju Samson will become the backup opener. Although Abhishek could not score many runs in IPL 2025, he scored at an impressive average of 193.39.
Middle order batsmen: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper)
Captain Suryakumar Yadav has the ability to score runs quickly. His performance in IPL 2025 has been excellent. Suryakumar has broken the record for scoring more than 25 runs consecutively in this year’s IPL, 16 of which he has scored during this IPL itself.
Jitesh Sharma has been selected as the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper. Batting at number 5, Jitesh has proven that he can do wonders with the bat in the last overs when needed. His contribution was crucial in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s title-winning season, where he also captained in some matches.
All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel
With 114 T20 Internationals under his belt, Hardik Pandya has enough experience to turn any contest around with both bat and ball. Apart from his aggressive batting, the all-rounder can also make great contributions with the bowling.
Axar Patel had a good IPL 2025 season, where he also captained the Delhi Capitals. An important aspect that came to light during the 2024 T20 World Cup is that Axar can be fielded anywhere in the batting order if needed. His spin bowling will be expected to play a key role on the UAE pitches.
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy
After a stellar IPL performance, Kuldeep Yadav had to sit out all five Test matches played in England. The left-arm wrist spinner has had his best IPL season so far in terms of economy rate (7.07).
Arshdeep Singh, like Kuldeep, also had his best IPL season in 2025, in terms of number of wickets (21 wickets in 16 innings).
Varun Chakravarthy’s performance in the T20 series against England ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 and the 50-over tournament was commendable. After taking 17 wickets in IPL 2025, he is in good form in 20-over cricket, playing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League.
Also Read: India Squad Comparison, Asia Cup 2023 vs Asia Cup 2025 Team
