Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for upcoming Asian Games on Friday, July 14. The 19th edition of the mega-continental tournament will kick off from Saturday, September 23. It will be for the first time that an Indian cricket team will participate in the tournament, and the BCCI has decided to send a second-string Indian squad to Hangzhou, China, for the same. In the squad announcement that came late on Friday night, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been given the responsibility to lead Men in Blue.
Gaikwad, who is currently on India’s expedition in the West Indies, opened up on the announcement and expressed his excitement for the forthcoming mega-continental tournament. In a video shared by the BCCI, Gaikwad said, “Really thankful for the opportunity by the BCCI, management and selectors. Playing for India itself is a proud feeling. Leading the side in such a big event will be a great opportunity for me personally and also for all the other members. So, really looking forward and really happy, and obviously, feeling really proud.”
Watch the video here:
Gaikwad added, “I think it will be great fun because we all are youngsters and we have been really gelling around well with each other since the last one or two years, playing the IPL against each other, playing the India A games. Then some India games as well so I think it’s a really fun group to be a part of and I think it will be really exciting for everyone who are part of the squad to represent the country in the Asian Games and obviously to win a medal for the country is something we always grew up watching on television and seeing athletes win it for the country.”
The 26-year-old Gaikwad concluded by saying, “The dream obviously would be to win the gold medal, stand on the podium and singing the national anthem for our country.” India’s squad for the forthcoming tournament includes names like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma and Rahul Tripathi. Along with them, Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda and Sai Sudharsan are the standby players.
