Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag believes the upcoming Asia Cup will be the perfect platform for India to prepare for the T20 World Cup. India will enter the continental tournament as a big favorite, and they will aim to go all the way.
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel has picked a potent 15-man squad for the team, including gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. In fact, in-form batters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, and Shreyas Iyer could not make it to the final squad of the team.
India has named Shubman Gill as the vice-captain for the eight-team tournament and thus, he is expected to be part of the playing XI. Gill had scored 650 runs in 15 matches of IPL 2025 while leading the Gujarat Titans.
“I think in the T20 format, this Asia Cup can serve as a great preparation for our 2026 T20 World Cup. It’s an opportunity to see which new players should be given chances and who can be included in the squad. You can start building a team for the World Cup,” Sehwag said on Sony Sports Network.
“In my opinion, there is no better opportunity for the Indian team to check its strength than the Asia Cup,” he added.
Meanwhile, India has been in red-hot form in T20Is as they have won consecutive series against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, and England.
India, eight-time Asia Cup champions, will open their campaign against the UAE at the Dubai International Stadium on September 10.
India Squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
