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India Asia Cup 2025 Squad: With Shubman Gill's return to the squad for the 2025 Men's T20 Asia Cup, the speculation about India's opening partnership for the tournament has been on fire, with many cricket pundits predicting the names of young batters.

The veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane believes Gill and Abhishek Sharma would create a powerful opening combination and are likely to spearhead India's batting charge.

The Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI’s senior men’s selection committee on Tuesday announced a 15-member squad for the Asia Cup, naming Shubman Gill as vice-captain.

Rahane said he would like Sanju Samson to keep his spot as the opener. Gill's return to the India T20I team as the vice-captain indicates that Samson may be benched for the back-up opening role. In that case, Jitesh Sharma is likely to slot in the middle-order and take up keeping duties.

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"As a team, I think they have a very good problem to solve for the opening pair. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have done really well in that slot. But Shubman is back in the team. I'm sure he is most likely to open with Abhishek Sharma," said Rahane on his YouTube channel on Thursday.

"Personally, I would like to see Sanju Samson in the team because he has done really well - a very confident guy, very good team man, and I feel that is a very important thing. Sanju is a great team man, but that's a very good problem to have for the team management," he added.

"My opinion is that Sanju Samson will sit out. Though, as I said, I would like him to play and see in the playing eleven. But Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma will open the innings for the team," said Rahane.

Rahane also expressed that the eleventh player will be dependent on the conditions on offer in Dubai, the venue where India will play Group A games against the UAE and Pakistan.

"Eleventh player will be depending on the wicket, because we are playing in Dubai, and depending on the wicket and conditions, it will be either Varun Chakaravarthy or Harshit Rana."

Rahane expressed his view on the omission of Shreyas Iyer from the Asia Cup squad.

"There is a lot of talk about Shreyas' omission from the Asia Cup team. I am sure he must be really disappointed considering the IPL he had, which was fantastic and also in 50-over domestic matches he has played, he has done really well in whatever opportunities he has got," said the veteran batter.

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"I can completely understand from the team management's point of view that they can only pick 15 players and have to see the balance of the team. The only thing I want to see and know that if proper communication from selectors and team management with Shreyas Iyer is there," he added.

"He is an important member of the team, and I am sure that in the coming years or the future, he is going to be part of the T20 format as well. So, the communication is the key from the selectors to Shreyas Iyer," Rahane concluded.

With Agency Inputs

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