Here’s How IPL Performance Wasn’t The Deciding Factor In India’s Asia Cup 2025 Squad Selection

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2025 on Tuesday, August 19. Shubman Gill came back as vice-captain, and Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, who last played T20I in Barbados on June 29, 2024 in the World Cup final, also played.

IPL Performance Not the Deciding Factor

Although their sucess in Orange Cap and Purple Cap in IPL 2025, Gujarat Titans player B Sai Sudharsan and Prasidh Krishna missed out of the list. The two had been in the running but the selection panel decided to ignore their magnificent IPL performances.

The highest run-getter is Sai Sudharsan with 759 runs in 15 matches with an average of 54.21 and a strike rate of 156.17. His last match in T20I was on July 7, 2024, against Zimbabwe and on that occasion he did not bat.

The bowler, Prasidh Krishna, who has taken 25 wickets in IPL 2025 playing with the Gujarat Titans, last represented a T20I against Australia on November 28, 2023, at Guwahati. However, his steadiness in bowling did not get him a berth in the Asia Cup team.

High Scorers in IPL 2025 Ignored

Other top run-scorers like Shreyas Iyer (604 runs), KL Rahul (539), Yashasvi Jaiswal (559), and Prabhsimran Singh (549) also failed to impress the selection committee. The vice-captaincy and a place in the squad were secured by Shubman Gill, who scored 650 runs in IPL 2025, which is indicative of the fact that recent franchise success did not control the selection of the squad.

Sai Sudharsan’s IPL stats were impressive, including a 108* high score and 21 sixes, but the selectors still chose to go with players who had prior international exposure. On a similar note, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul had registered huge strike rates of over 149 but their IPL runs could not fetch them national selection.

Leading Bowlers Left Out

Prasidh Krishna led the wicket-takers among Indian bowlers, yet others like R Sai Kishore (19 wickets), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (17), Krunal Pandya (17), Vaibhav Arora (17), Mohammed Siraj (16), and Yuzvendra Chahal (16) were also ignored. The selection panel under Ajit Agarkar seems to place more value on experience as compared to IPL performance.

Even though they had less wickets compared to some of the IPL stars, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy were selected. The strategy of the committee implies that T20I experience and previous international consistency are the determining factors in the process of the squad building.

Selection Committee’s Approach

Asia Cup team proves that just mind blowing IPL figures cannot get you a national team call. Ajit Agarkar and his panel have preferred players who have already made their mark in international cricket leaving out the IPL stars such as Sudharsan and Krishna who have performed outstandingly in the Indian richest cricket league.

“The selection criteria consider more than just IPL performance,” a source within the BCCI said. “We focus on team balance, experience, and adaptability for continental tournaments.”

Some of the IPL heroes are still missing in this Asia Cup 2025 line-up, the ongoing discussion of the burden of franchise cricket in India over international exposure in the planning of the T20I team.

ALSO READ: Favouritism In Team India? Abhishek Nayar’s Bold Statement On Shreyas Iyer’s Asia Cup 2025 Snub