��������

NEW DELHI: Defending champions India named top order batter Shubman Gill and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in their Twenty20 squad on Tuesday for next month’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and middle order batter Shreyas Iyer, however, could not make the cut in the 15-member squad led by Suryakumar Yadav.

India’s test captain Gill has not played a T20 International since July last year when he was Suryakumar’s deputy on the tour of Sri Lanka.

“That’s where we started a new cycle,” Suryakumar, who took over T20 captaincy from Rohit Sharma after India won the 20-overs World Cup title last year, told reporters.

“After that he got busy with all the test series and he didn’t get an opportunity to play T20s because he was busy playing test cricket and Champions Trophy.

“So he’s there in the squad and we’re happy to have him.”

India also included Bumrah, whose workload has been a major concern for the team think-tank, which played him in three of the five tests in England earlier this year.

With three opening options in Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson — India could not accommodate Jaiswal.

“With regard to Yashasvi, it’s just unfortunate again,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said.

“There’s Abhishek Sharma, what he’s done over the last year or so, plus he can bowl a little bit, he gives us that option if required.

“One of these guys was going to miss out, Yashasvi just has to wait for his chance.”

Samson and Jitesh Sharma are the two wicketkeepers in the side, which also includes left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

India begin their Group A campaign against hosts United Arab Emirates in Dubai before meeting arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue four days later.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson 

RIYADH: The sixth week of the 2025 Esports World Cup concluded a change in the Club Championship lead, Karmine Corp winning Rocket League and a new back-to-back EWC title winner emerging.

Rocket League

Karmine Corp secured a dominant 4-1 victory over Geekay Esports to cement the roster’s pedigree within Rocket League. The team had an unbeaten run at EWC 25, ending in a near-perfect grand final showing. They had not conceded so much as a single goal until the fourth game of the final, but Geekay Esports prevented them from securing a clean sweep.

The tournament brought 16 top teams to Riyadh to compete for a $1m prize pool, with Karmine Corp claiming $400,000 for their victory. Their performance highlighted why they’re currently the most feared team in Rocket League, with strong showings in the group stage, an impressive win over Team Falcons — the only other LAN winners in 2025 — in the semifinals, and their commanding victory in the grand final.

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS

Twisted Minds took home the PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS title after emerging victorious in one of the closest PUBG finals ever. Having been knocked out in the group stage at EWC 24, the club’s performance this year more than made up for that disappointment.

Despite their underwhelming showing last year, they ended on a high with back-to-back PUBG Global Series Finals wins.

That set them up to claim the EWC 25 title in a tough field of 12 teams. Displaying great individual plays, they earned enough points to go into the final match with a small lead. Just Dmytrii “Perfect1ks” Dubenyuk was left alive in the closing moments, but it was enough for Twisted Minds to secure overall victory.

Teamfight Tactics

It was Weibo Gaming from China who secured the title here. They had a tough run, and although not the favorites from the outset, they quickly became one of the standout teams as the event progressed.

Their grand final opponents, Virtus.pro, built a reputation as giant slayers, knocking out both EWC 24 grand final sides on their way.

Ultimately, Weibo Gaming were able to maintain their unbeaten run to lift the trophy. Virtus.pro gave them a hard time of it, but they kept their cool and secured the title with a 3-1 victory.

TEKKEN 8

DN Freecs’ Lim “Ulsan” Soo-hoon was again victorious in TEKKEN 8. After last year’s win, there were high expectations when he took to the stage this year. Despite an early group stage loss to Kim “Kkokkoma” Mu-jong during phase two, Ulsan was able to climb out of the lower bracket and dominate from that point onwards — even taking his revenge by knocking Kkokkoma out of the competition.

With his grand final victory over Yoon “LowHigh” Sun-woong, Ulsan etched his name into the history books by taking won back-to-back EWC TEKKEN 8 titles. Given his dominance, eyes will now turn to EWC 26 — can he do it again and become a three-time champion?

Street Fighter 6 Last Chance Qualifier

Claude Eric “Hurricane” Diboti, a Cameroonian-born UK Street Fighter competitor playing for Wolves Esports, displayed his skill in this intense Street Fighter 6 EWC Last Chance Qualifier. From his first game in the pools, his presence was unmissable — in total, he had nine games and did not lose a single set.

Knocking out a number of notable players on the way, Hurricane will be a player to watch in Week 7 when the Street Fighter 6 tournament begins.

Club Championship

At the end of Week 6, just a handful of clubs are still in the running to take the Club Championship.

There has been another change at the top with Team Falcons back in first place thanks to two third place finishes in PUBG and Rocket League. Though they failed to secure points in Teamfight Tactics and TEKKEN 8, it was still a positive week for the reigning champions.

With just three games left to play in Week 7, and with second-place Team Liquid also competing in all three games, we are in for an incredible week.

Outside those two, third-place Team Vitality can theoretically still win, though it would require them to claim the title in Counter-Strike 2 and Team Falcons to gain zero points in Week 7. They would also need Team Liquid to pick up fewer than 600 points.

Twisted Minds and Virtus.pro share fourth place, and with multiple teams playing next week they are still in with a shot.

However, it will take a sterling effort if they are to catch Team Falcons and Virtus.pro would also need to claim victory in one of those titles to be eligible to win the Club Championship.