All eyes were on India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2023 starting on August 30 and it has been announced today. Rohit Sharma will be seen as the captain and Hardik Pandya as the vice-captain.
As expected, several key players have returned to the ODI squad, including KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah and the legendary Krishna. Tilak Verma, who recently made his international debut in the 17-member squad, has also got a place, whose inclusion was also being demanded a lot. Sanju Samson has been kept as a reserve player.
Rahul and Shreyas have spent several weeks at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to undergo rehabilitation and have taken part in match-simulation drills in the days leading up to their selection. Rahul hasn’t played any competitive cricket since getting injured during IPL 2023, while Shreyas has been away from cricket since India’s tour of Australia in March.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar told during the press conference that Shreyas is fully fit but Rahul has a hamstring injury. Due to the swallow, Rahul might not be able to play the opening match but he is expected to be fit till the second-third match. For this reason, Sanju Samson has been selected as a reserve.
Talking about Tilak Verma, he made his debut on the West Indies tour and presented his claim by playing many excellent innings in the T20 International series. Apart from this, he also has the skill of bowling. Perhaps this is the reason why the selectors picked him for a big tournament like the Asia Cup without making an ODI debut.
Let us tell you that the Asia Cup will start from August 30 in which Pakistan will host Nepal in Multan. India will play their first Group A match against Pakistan on September 2 at Pallekele, after which they will play Nepal on September 4 at the same venue. Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are in Group B and the top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Four stage. The teams ranked number one and two in the Super Four will play the final in Colombo on 17 September.
Indian team selected for Asia Cup:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya (Vice-Captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur Akshar Patel, Famous Krishna
Reserve player: Sanju Samson