The BCCI, on Monday (August 8), announced the India squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. The selectors have named Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the squad for the continental championship. Kohli recently missed the series against West Indies as he was given a rest. Rahul, on the other hand, was sidelined with an injury and then Covid-19.
Deepak Hooda has also found a spot in the squad while the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson have missed out. Iyer has been named in the standby list along with Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar. Opening batsman Ishan Kishan is also not a part of the squad. With Rahul back in the team, he is likely to open the innings alongside skipper Rohit Sharma while Hooda looks set to be a part of the middle-order.
In the bowling department, the selectors have named only three frontline fast-bowlers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan with Hardik Pandya serving as the fast-bowling all-rounder. Senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel have missed out due to injuries. On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi will take care of the spin department.
Asia Cup 2022:
Asia Cup is making a much-anticipated return after a long gap of 4 years and will be played in the UAE. The 2020 edition had to be postponed due to Covid-19. It was rescheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in 2021 but was postponed again. India are the defending champions. They had defeated Bangladesh in the final of the 2018 edition.
A total of six teams will be taking part in Asia Cup 2022. The five Test playing nations of the continent – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh – along with the winner of the qualifying event will fight it out in the tournament. India, Pakistan and the qualifier are in Group A while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are in Group B.
India squad for Asia Cup 2022:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal
Stand by players:
Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar