Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Virender Sehwag in commentary panel for Asia Cup

New Delhi: Indian greats Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Virender Sehwag along with former bowling Bharat Arun will be a part of the Sony Sports network's multi-lingual commentary panel for the Asia Cup T20 tournament starting Tuesday in the UAE.

The 17th edition of the tournament will feature India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong, battling for continental supremacy ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup next year. India will open their campaign on Wednesday against the UAE.

Former India head coach Shastri, Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Robin Uthappa, Bazid Khan, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Russel Arnold, and Simon Doull are among the commentators roped in for the world feed of the telecast.

Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Ajay Jadeja, former India batting coach Abhishek Nayar,and Saba Karim are among the prominent names in the panel of hindi commentators.

"As the Asia Cup returns, Sony Sports Network reimagines cricket broadcasting," Sony's Chief Revenue Officer Rajesh Kaul said.

Bharat Arun will join the likes of WV Raman in the Tamil panel while the Telugu unit will feature Venkatapathy Raju, and Venugopal Rao among others.

"As Team India steps onto the Asia Cup stage under the dynamic leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, we witness a blend of tenacity and experience steering the side. This squad symbolises the future of Indian cricket, diverse, versatile and combative," said Gavaskar in a release issued by the network.

The view was echoed by Shastri.

"With Surya Kumar Yadav leading from the front and Shubman Gill mastering the art of youthful leadership as vice-captain, this Indian squad exemplifies the perfect mix of experience and potential.

"Players like Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, and Hardik Pandya bring international class, while talents like Tilak Varma and Harshit Rana add spark and depth," he said.

"The Asia Cup 2025 will be the crucible where their mettle is tested, and I believe this team, under Surya's calm and aggressive captaincy, will rise to the occasion and set new benchmarks for Indian cricket," he added.