Asia Cup 2025: The BCCI has picked star opener Abhishek Sharma in India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025. This is the first time Sharma has been picked for a team beyond a bilateral series, and that clearly shows that management has backed a player who has sometimes performed inconsistently in this format but has a brilliant record.

The selectors had earlier expressed reservations about selecting aggressive batters for major tournaments. But this did work in their favour when they brought back Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to the T20I side for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Although this decision did affect their batting lineup as players including Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sanju Samson were dropped from the team, the team did lift the T20 World Cup after almost two decades.

As far as India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025 is concerned, Shubman Gill's comeback to the side might be reassuring for India's batting lineup, if things don't go in their way on a certain day. But, right now, Shubman's friend Abhishek Sharma must be relieved as he won't have to face these selection dilemmas.

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Abhishek, who is currently the world No. 1 T20I batter, deserves all the backing from the team management and the selectors due to the way he performs as an opener. He does have the ability to take the opponent bowlers to the cleaners.

After playing in 17 T20I matches till now, he has already smashed two centuries and as many half-centuries. He bats at a staggering strike rate of 193.84, and that's how he gives even the world's best bowlers a hard time from the first ball itself. Till now, he has performed in bilateral series, and every series was challenging in its way. If the team performs like this, then they would be playing in seven T20I matches, and this is where Abhishek Sharma would be tested. Will he be able to pile pressure on bowlers during high-octane clashes? Will he be able to score runs when the team is under immense pressure? These are the kind of answers that the management would want from him during the upcoming continental tournament.

If the youngster is able to perform well in this tournament, then there are high chances that his position would be sealed for India's 2026 T20 World Cup squad.

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Abhishek Sharma’s Road to Asia Cup Selection

His road to getting selected in India's Asia Cup squad didn't face any major drawbacks, but it wasn't smooth either. During his debut T20I match against Zimbabwe, he was dismissed for a duck, and then in the second match itself, he smashed a hundred and then went through a lean patch for a while.

When Sanju Samson, his fellow opener, was scoring runs consistently, Abhishek Sharma had put up a few disappointing performances. He couldn't even score more than 20 runs in seven consecutive innings, but then made a brilliant comeback against South Africa, as he had scored 50 and 36 runs during November last year.

During the last T20I against England ahead of IPL 2025, he had smashed two brilliant innings as he had scored 79 runs in Kolkata and then had scored a record-breaking knock of 135 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. These knocks might have helped him get selected for the Asia Cup squad.

He was able to bounce back to form well in time, but he didn't have a great start to the IPL as well. He had registered low scores during the first half, which had affected both his form and SRH's campaign.

But his dip in form during the cash-rich league happened to him at the right time, as it helped him to change gears when he began his knock. He learned that when he isn't that confident, he shouldn't hit every ball, and he thus changed his approach as compared to his usual high-risk style.

This shift in gears worked wonders for him as he found his form again. He ended IPL 2025 by scoring 439 runs and thus helped the team end their campaign on a high.

As he gears up for the continental tournament, he would be remembering all the lessons that he might have learnt during IPL 2025. It's a huge moment for him. If he can perform consistently, then his spot in the 2026 T20 World Cup squad would be sealed. And if he doesn't perform, then there are a lot of players who are in contention to replace him in India's T20I side.