India have announced their squad for the Asia Cup today (August 21) with chief selector Ajit Agarkar making the announcement in a press conference along with India captain Rohit Sharma.
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KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, the two players who were in the main focus as far as the squad announcement for the Asia Cup was concerned, have made the cut after being declared fit by the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
Suryakumar Yadav has, meanwhile, leapfrogged Sanju Samson for the backup batter’s spot, with India choosing to gamble with the T20 maverick who has so far struggled in his ODI career.Samson still finds himself in the squad, however, only as a backup.
Tilak Varma, who recently made his international debut and is currently playing in the T20I series against Ireland, has been given a maiden ODI call-up following his impressive outings in the T20Is. Tilak provides an additional middle-order option who bats left-handed and can also bowl off-spin.
Leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who has hardly got game time in ODIs lately, has now been left out of the squad altogether.
The rest of the squad bears an expected look, with the first-choice fast-bowling lineup making a comeback. Jasprit Bumrah is back in the ODI squad. He last played in the format more than a year ago when India played an ODI series in England. Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami are back as well, completing the quartet of the four first-choice ODI fast bowlers for India.
Asia Cup 2023: India squad
Batters
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav
Wicketkeepers
KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson (backup)
All-rounders
Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Tilak Varma
Fast bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna
Spinners
Kuldeep Yadav