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.

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.