Who Will Open for India National Cricket Team in Asia Cup 2025?

The Asia Cup 2025 is just around the corner, and the BCCI have announced the squad for the ACC tournament. It will take place in the UAE. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the 15-member squad for the 2025 Asia Cup. The team was revealed by selection chief Ajit Agarkar on 19th August in Mumbai. The Asia Cup is going to start from September 9 and last until September 28. India is placed in group A along with Pakistan, Oman, and the host nation UAE.

As the team is now out, all eyes were on Shubman Gill, who returned in the T20I side as vice-captain of the team. Gill's last T20I match for Men in Blue was against Sri Lanka in 2024. However, a strong performance in IPL followed by the England test series helped him regain his spot for the Asia Cup 2025. Meanwhile, India also has Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson in the top order, which coaching staff in trouble to find a proper combination.
Before Gill got his place back in the team, Abhishek and Samson used to open the batting attack for Team India. In recent times, both batters have had some solid partnerships for the first wicket, and now that Gill is back in the team, one of the batters is going to lose the spot. Meanwhile, Agarkar also stated that there are many options for the coach before choosing the right playing XI for the match, including the Asia Cup 2025 India openers. It is a major discussion point for one of the best cricket teams in the world.

Asia Cup 2025 India Openers: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson or Shubman Gill?

Speaking about the stats, Sanju Samson has played 42 T20I matches for India and has scored 861 runs. He also smashed three centuries, but in IPL 2025, due to injuries, his form dipped, and he had to miss some matches for the Rajasthan Royals. Later, when Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored a century and became the youngest Indian batter to hit century in IPL, Samson decided to bat one down and give young player chance to show his skills.

On the other hand, Shubman Gill has played 21 games and scored 578 runs, including one hundred. However, he had a great IPL season with the Gujarat Titans as the right-handed batter scored 650 runs in 15 matches. Keeping the form in mind, Gill might have an upper hand to cement his place in the squad as he is also the vice-captain of the team. Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma won’t have any problem with his new partner as his aggressive batting style helps the team to get quick runs on the scoreboard. In contrast to who will open the innings with him won’t be a problem for Abhishek has the ability to score quick runs in the powerplay.

Asia Cup 2025 India Squad: Who Can Support Abhishek Sharma

So far, Sanju Samson has proved himself to open the top order, and Gill has yet to show his worth as an opener in T20. The team might go with the settled openers. Currently, Abhishek Sharma is one of the best T20I batters in the world, and India will go with him. The question is who will be his partner. As of now, only time will tell who will open the innings with Abhishek, but India might go with the same combination as Samson previously opened, along with Abhishek. If Shubman Gill gets a chance to open, Samson will come to bat in the middle order. India’s first game in the Asia Cup 2025 is against the UAE on September 10, and there may be changes according to the opponents India faces in their journey to win the title.

Asia Cup 2025 India Squad

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Sanju Samson (WK), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh