BCCI chief Selector Ajit Agarkar is all set to announce a 17-man squad for the Asia Cup 2023, which begins on August 20. The squad for the continental event would give everyone a clear of India’s plans going into the ODI World Cup in India.
Team India selectors and management are sweating out over the availability of the Star Indian batting duo KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer for the Asia Cup 2023. According to the reports, KL Rahul is likely to return to the Indian squad for the continental event, while Shreyas Iyer’s Participation still hanging in balance, as he is all set to play a practice match on Sunday to prove his fitness ahead of the selection on Asia Cup squad selection on Monday.
According to the PTI, Indian selectors may well announce the 15-men squad for the World Cup in India, which needs to be submitted on September 5 and is subject to changes till September 27. The Asia Cup squad can consist of 17 men of which the team needs to exclude two members for the World Cup.
“There is a possibility of picking the provisional 15-member squad for the World Cup which needs to be submitted by September 5 but one could make changes as the deadline for the final squad is September 27.
“For Asia Cup, a couple of more players could be picked,” A Source Told PTI
Pakistan and Bangladesh have all picked 17-member squads for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, while India is set to follow the same pattern for the neighbouring going into the continental event, starting in 10 days.
According to reports in Espncricinfo, Shreyas Iyer has ticked almost all the boxes to prove his fitness ahead of the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023, as he fielded all 50 overs and batted 38 overs without any discomfort on his body at the previous practice game earlier this week.
While the Indian selectors and team management are concerned about their fitness going into the continental event, as they want fully fit players to be picked for the Asia Cup elsewhere they would look to give chances to the backup option in the team to play the matches in Sri Lanka, which would give them clear picture before the team selection for the World Cup.
Earlier it was reported that if Shreyas Iyer fails to make it into the India squad for the Asia Cup 2023 his chances of making it into the ODI World Cup will remain slim as the team management will be concerned about their game time before playing the mega event in India.