India Squad for Asia Cup Announcement Highlights: Press conference to begin at 1.30 pm IST, confirms BCCI

Earlier in the evening, there were some suggesting it would be called off due to heavy rain and waterlogging in Mumbai.

The BCCI, however, has since confirmed through a release that the press conference for the Asia Cup squad announcement will take place on Tuesday at 1.30 pm.

Not just that, India’s squad for the upcoming women’s ODIs against Australia as well as the Women’s World Cup will be announced on the same day, at 3.30 pm.

Spin legend Harbhajan has included both Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul in his squad for the Asia Cup, removing Sanju Samson from the list as a result. Pant and Rahul currently are the first-choice wicketkeepers in Tests and ODIs respectively, the latter having kept wickets in the Champions Trophy earlier this year.

Samson, on the other hand, has primarily been keeping wickets in the T20 format since Suryakumar Yadav succeeded Rohit Sharma as captain in the format.

The BCCI’s announcement of India’s squad for the upcoming Asia Cup was scheduled to take place in a press conference attended by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday, 19 August at the board’s Mumbai headquarters.

However, latest reports suggest the announcement might go ahead without the presser due to heavy rain and waterlogging in the ‘Maximum City’.

Harbhajan Singh has dropped both Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh from his squad while including Shubman Gill as a top-order batting option under Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership, with the trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh being the frontline pacers.

Harbhajan Singh’s picks for the Asia Cup: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul/Rishabh Pant Riyan Parag, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh.

The 14-year-old got his IPL career off to an explosive start, having smashed the second-fastest century in IPL history in Rajasthan Royals’ match against Gujarat Titans. Former India batter and captain Kris Srikkanth, for one, feels now is the right time to bring the young opener into the senior squad.

“You have to play boldly. Don’t make him wait. Don’t say things like let him mature. He is already playing with remarkable maturity. His shot-making has been on another level. If I were chairman, I would definitely have him in the 16,” ex-chief selector Srikkanth said on YouTube.

Here’s a look at India’s last T20I squad: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Ramandeep Singh, Arshdeep Singh

India’s possible Asia Cup squadas per multiple reports: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill/Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer/Rinku Singh/Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana/Prasidh Krishna, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh

Aakash Chopra said Shreyas Iyer needs to be a part of the squad as he has displayed his match-winning capabilities in the Champions Trophy and IPL 2025.

“Shreyas Iyer needs to be spoken about because when we were watching the Champions Trophy, no Indian player was better than him in the middle overs. He was the guy who was taking the attack to the opposition. He was the guy who was hitting boundaries whenever he wished, and removing the pressure on the batter at the other end,” Chopra said on the Youtube channel.

“After that came the IPL. There were plenty of pressures. This was Shreyas Iyer’s best-ever IPL season. We have repeatedly seen that T20 selections are based on IPL performances. We have seen that with Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and everyone. If we see it from that token, Shreyas Iyer deserves to play.”

Here’s a look at Gill’s batting numbers in IPL 2023, 2024 and 2025.

IPL 2023 – 890 runs (59.3 Avg & 157.8 Sr)

IPL 2024 – 426 runs (38.8 Avg & 147.4 Sr)

IPL 2025 – 650 runs (50 Avg & 155.9 Sr)