Vaibhav Tripathi
Emerging young batter Tilak Varma has received his first ODI call-up, while Yuzvendra Chahal has been omitted as India revealed an 18-member squad for the forthcoming Asia Cup 2023. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have returned after an extended period of recovery from injuries. Prasidh Krishna is making a comeback to the ODI squad following his recent debut in the ongoing T20I series in Ireland.
On Chahal’s exclusion, skipper Rohit Sharma said Axar Patel was preferred due to his batting abilities: “We had a deep discussion about an offspinner and a legspinner as well. But see, things boil down to batting options at Nos. 8 and 9. We wanted someone who can bat there. Axar had a good run this year, did well in white-ball cricket… With him being there, it allows us that option of firstly having that left-hander who can go up and play the spinners and then he creates for us that batting depth. We talked about Ashwin and Washington as well. As you saw, even Chahal missed out because we can only get 17 players in.”
Amidst the ongoing speculation about Jasprit Bumrah’s potential appointment as the vice-captain for the Asia Cup 2023, Hardik Pandya will serve as the deputy under Rohit Sharma’s leadership for the continental championship.
It’s important to note that Sanju Samson has been designated as the traveling stand-by player.
India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2023:
Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson