Is Asia Cup 2025 Suryakumar Yadav's last assignment as Indian T20I captain? Ex-cricketer says ‘selectors may move on…’

The upcoming Asia Cup 2025 will be crucial for Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav as a failure in the continental showpiece might prompt the BCCI selectors to elevate Shubman Gill for the top position, felt former England spinner Monty Panesar. Gill, who has taken over as the Indian Test captain, has been appointed as the vice-captain in the white-ball format. The right-hander, who celebrates his 26th birthday today, is touted to take over the leadership of all three formats, in the future.

Following the retirement of Rohit Sharma after India's T20 World Cup triumph last year, Suryakumar was given the mantle as Gill's wasn't a regular feature in the shortest format of the game. In 22 games as captain in the shortest format, Suryakumar led India to 18 wins and lost only four games. Gill led India in T20Is against Zimbabwe last year.

Panesar, who is currently in India, opined Gill has a great potential to lead India across three formats. “Shubman Gill has great potential to captain India in all three formats,” Panesar, who played a key role on England's Test series win over India in 2012, told India TV.

"If Suryakumar Yadav doesn't perform well in T20s or fails to win the Asia Cup, I think the selectors may move on from him and hand the white-ball captaincy to Gill. Once Rohit Sharma steps aside, it's very likely that Gill will lead across formats," added the Indian-origin former England spinner.

Clearly, he will open the innings with Abhishek Sharma for India in the Asia Cup 2025, thus forming a destructive pair at the top of the order. India will open their campaign against United Arab Emirates on September 10 in Dubai, followed by the Pakistan clash four days later.