Ajit Agarkar, chief selector of the senior men’s India team, announced the India squad for the Asia Cup in a press conference in Delhi today (August 21). Here are five key takeaways from the much-awaited squad announcement.

For the Asia Cup, India named a full-strength ODI squad after a long time as several first-choice players returned after being injured for an extended period over the last year or so.

There were a couple of surprises as well in the 17-member squad, hinting at the whom the selectors will consider for the World Cup. Here are the top five takeaways from India’s Asia Cup squad.

The return of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer

Rahul and Iyer return after long injury layoffs. Agarkar said that Iyer, declared fit the National Cricket Academy (NCA), is ready to play, but Rahul may need some time as he is recovering from a slight niggle that is different from the original injury that had kept him out. Sanju Samson has been drafted into the squad as a cover for Rahul.

🚨 Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are back 🚨

BCCI has announced India’s squad for the 2023 men’s Asia Cup.#ShreyasIyer #KLRahul #India #AsiaCup #Cricket #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/rJU6pJLTOX

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) August 21, 2023

India have missed the services of Rahul and Iyer, their two most trusted ODI middle-order batters, at various points of time in the last couple of years. Their return for the Asia Cup augurs well, as it gives India time to ease themselves into the national setup and achieve peak form and fitness by the time the World Cup rolls around.

First-choice pace quartet is back

Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, who have returned to international cricket in the ongoing Ireland tour, have given enough confidence to the selectors and management with their outings in Ireland to get drafted into the Asia Cup squad.

Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, the two fast bowlers who have been leading the Indian ODI pace attack in the last year or so, have also returned after being rested for the Ireland and West Indies white-ball series.

Despite being the top four ODI seamers in the country since Prasidh’s debut, the four have never played together. In fact, Siraj, Bumrah and Shami have never played in the same ODI, nor have Siraj, Bumrah, and Prasidh.

As the World Cup draws nearer, India will be pleased to finally have their ace pace quartet assembled together.

Only three spinners – no place for Yuzvendra Chahal

In a surprising move, India have gone in with just three frontline spinners, in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, leaving out Chahal, their premier leg-spinner for some time now.

Chahal has played only two ODIs this year as Kuldeep has stormed back into top form, taking over the lead spinner’s role from him.

Apart from Chahal, there was also an outside chance of India picking one of Washington Sundar and R Ashwin to provide the option of an off-spinner to the team. Neither of them has made the cut as well.

At the press conference, Rohit said that opting for an extra spinner would have meant leaving out a seamer. Given the long road ahead, the extra pacer at the team’s disposal is important.

Tilak Varma gets maiden ODI call

Tilak’s all-round package – a left-handed middle-order batter who can bowl part-time off-spin – proved too tempting to ignore as the selectors gave the 20-year-old a maiden ODI call-up for the Asia Cup.

Agarkar said in the press conference that they were impressed by not only his talent and promise but also the temperament he showed in his debut T20I series against the West Indies, where he ended up as India’s highest run-getter.

Suryakumar Yadav preferred over Sanju Samson

Despite having a poor ODI record, Yadav has got the nod over Samson for the Asia Cup squad. Samson has only made it as a cover for Rahul. This might be a clear indication as to where the team management feels Samson stands in the pecking order.

Yadav has struggled to find a suitable tempo in his ODI career so far. From 24 innings, he averages 24.33 with the bat, and has been moved around the order in an attempt to find the ideal position for him. Samson, on the other hand, has found success in the sporadic opportunities he has got in the middle order in ODIs and averages 56 from 12 innings.

Yet, the selectors and management have chosen Yadav over Samson on potential.

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