A contingent of India’s men’s cricket team, led by head coach Gautam Gambhir, landed in Dubai on Thursday evening as the defending champions gear up for a preparatory camp ahead of the Asia Cup 2025. Gambhir was accompanied by captain Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Hardik Pandya, with the trio spotted arriving at Mumbai airport earlier in the day. Other players, including Rinku Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, and Kuldeep Yadav, also touched down in Dubai later that evening.
Gautam Gambhir, dressed casually in a black T-shirt and blue jeans, was seen posing for a fan photograph at Dubai airport. In a break from tradition, players and support staff are arriving in a staggered manner, unlike previous tournaments where the full squad would assemble in Mumbai before flying out together.
This flexibility comes in light of ongoing domestic cricket commitments, allowing players to travel directly from their respective cities. Among those still engaged in domestic cricket, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana featured for North Zone against East Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final, while Kuldeep Yadav represented Central Zone against North East Zone in Bengaluru.
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By the evening of September 4, all squad members were expected to arrive, with vice-captain Shubman Gill confirming his presence via a social media post from the team hotel. The full squad is slated to assemble at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Friday for their first net session.
Off they go! ✈️
Team India captain @surya_14kumar and star all-rounder @hardikpandya7 have left for the Asia Cup 2025.
The mission? Bring the trophy home. 🏆🇮🇳
[Asia Cup 2025, Indian Cricket Team] pic.twitter.com/hYY7z6O0rc
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 4, 2025
It remains uncertain whether the reserves—Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel—will also join the core 15-man squad in Dubai. The 15-member Indian squad is led by Suryakumar Yadav, with Gill returning to the T20I fold after an absence of over a year.
Shubman Gill is expected to open alongside Abhishek Sharma, while Sanju Samson, who impressed in the opening role previously, may move to the middle order. Management could also deploy Jitesh Sharma as the finisher and back-up wicketkeeper.
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India will kick off its Asia Cup 2025 campaign against the hosts, UAE, in Dubai on September 10, a day after Afghanistan vs. Hong Kong opens in Abu Dhabi. The defending champions will then face arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14 and conclude the group stage against Oman on September 19. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Four stage, joining Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong.
