By: Shubham Ghosh
Indian cricket fans were in for disappointment as the country’s veteran seamer, Jasprit Bumrah, was ruled out of the high-profile Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting August 27 because of an injury.
Rohit Sharma picked as the captain of the squad while KL Rahul returned as the T20 vice captain. Out-of-form batter Virat Kohli also returned to the India squad after missing a couple of international tours. Deepak Hooda also made the cut which gives an impression that he will be India’s back-up No.3.
Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer missed out besides Axar Patel. Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made it to the squad besides young tweaker Ravi Bishnoi. Iyer, Patel and Deepak Chahar were named as standbys.
?#TeamIndia squad for Asia Cup 2022 – Rohit Sharma (Capt ), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Y Chahal, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 8, 2022
India’s fast-bowling department featured Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan. Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik were the two wicket-keepers in the squad.
The Indian cricket board, which unveiled the list of players, said pacers Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
India, who are the defending champions in Asia Cup, will kick off their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on August 28. The two teams are in Group A along with a qualifier team which is yet to be finalised.
Rohit Sharma (captain ), KL Rahul (vice captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Y Chahal, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.