Gill, Bumrah Pass Fitness Test for Asia Cup; Rohit Also Clears

India Test captain Shubman Gill and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, along with some other national team players, have cleared the pre-season fitness tests conducted at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) successfully.

Gill, 25, newly named India's vice-captain for the Asia Cup 2025, will travel to Dubai soon to participate in the tournament from September 9. The fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma, who also cleared the necessary marks, will join him.

The fitness test was especially important for Gill, who had previously pulled out of the Duleep Trophy because of a fever. Appointed North Zone's captain, he instead lay low in his hometown for the last few days recovering. PTI reported others who passed the CoE tests to be Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar, and Shardul Thakur.

Along with the traditional Yo-Yo test, the players also had to undergo a DXA scan, which tests bone density and overall body composition.

Of those tested, Jaiswal and Washington are on the Asia Cup standby list, while Thakur will remain behind to lead West Zone in their Duleep Trophy semifinal encounter against Central Zone from September 4.

Rohit Sharma, who took a break from Tests and T20Is, has no pressing commitments. But he might be in action shortly, as India A is set to play against Australia A in a three-match ODI series in Kanpur on September 30, October 3, and 5. This will be followed by an ODI tour of Australia in November, although his participation is not yet confirmed. Meanwhile, Rohit is likely to stay back in the city for further training at the CoE.

Simultaneously, other members of the Asia Cup team — standby player Riyan Parag, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh — played for their zonal teams in the quarterfinals of the Duleep Trophy, and hence did not have to go through individual fitness tests.

Standby wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who was set to captain Central Zone, was ruled out of their quarterfinal match against NorthEast Zone because of a groin problem. Rajat Patidar captained in his place, while the medical staff keeps an eye on Jurel's rehabilitation.