The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the 16-man squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2018. Indian skipper Virat Kohli is rested for the competition. Thus, India’s limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma will hold the captaincy reins. Rohit’s opening partner Shikhar Dhawan will take over the vice-captain’s role.
Meanwhile, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, and Kedar Jadhav return to the squad. Rayudu had scored a truckload of runs in the IPL and had even found his place in the limited overs series against England. However, he failed to clear the Yo-Yo Test.
Some expected changes made to the Asia Cup squad.
On the other hand, Manish Pandey is in prolific form with the bat. The right-hander remained unbeaten in the recently concluded Quadrangular series as he scored 306 runs in the tournament. Thus, Pandey had made a strong case for himself.
Kedar Jadhav was also out from a long time. He had suffered a hamstring injury while playing in the first match for the Chennai Super Kings. Furthermore, Axar Patel also makes the cut into the squad.
Meanwhile, Khaleel Ahmed also finds his maiden call-up in the Indian ODI side. Ahmed recently played in the Quadrangular series and also featured for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
There were reports of Hardik Pandya getting rested for the upcoming Asia Cup. However, the all-rounder is included into the 16-man squad. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar also returns to the squad as he had suffered a back injury.
Kumar played for India A side and scalped three wickets against Australia A to come back in style.
Here is India’s squad for Asia Cup 2018:
https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1035795266144632832