India are going to appear in the Asia Cup for the 15th time, the second most appearance in the continental tournament alongside Pakistan and Bangladesh. Since 1984, Team India has become the champions of Asia seven times, six in ODIs and one in T20I.
Amidst all the uncertainty surrounding the Asia Cup hosts, the tournament is expected to be played in August and September of this year, in the ODI format. India will take part in the multi-nation event under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, who is yet to win the big one as the national captain.
The Indian selection committee will be looking to pick players in the Asia Cup, with an eye on the ODI World Cup, which will be played at home within a month of the scheduled finish of the continental tournament. With that in mind, SportsTiger looks at the probable squad for India in the Asia Cup 2023:
Batters: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan
The Indian captain Rohit Sharma has been quite consistent as a batter in the ODI format, but he hasn’t got many three figure scores in the format, just like the former captain Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill is the most in-form player in 50-over cricket for Team India, during the past one year or so, putting together hundreds against various opponents for fun.
Suryakumar Yadav, who got three consecutive ducks in the last ODI series against Australia, has been batting incredibly well in white-ball cricket elsewhere, which will make him one of the major candidates for the Asia Cup squad. Shreyas Iyer is expected to return to cricket from an injury before the continental tournament, which would mean that he is bound to get drafted into the India set up straight away, otherwise Shikhar Dhawan is the next best option for the selectors to rely on.
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Wicketkeepers: KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan
KL Rahul has made the number five position in the Indian ODI batting lineup his own since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, so he is surely going to be picked in Team India squad for the Asia Cup upon his potential return to injury. Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have both delivered results for the Indians in the limited opportunities at the 50-over level recently, which will mean that one of these two could make the main squad as the wicketkeeper in the multi-nation tournament.
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All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar
Hardik Pandya, who has been captaining the Team India in the T20Is since the absence of the regular captain Rohit Sharma, is thought of as the first all-rounder pick in the national squad for the Asia Cup. Ravindra Jadeja has missed a lot of ODI cricket in the past year due to injury or otherwise, but he has been a regular performer for the Indians in the format regardless.
Axar Patel has been one of the most improved ODI batters in the middle order during the last one year, which will make him a favourite to get picked in the continental tournament squad for Team India. Washington Sundar has gotten his chance in the 50-over format in recent times, and he wouldn’t be a bad selection for the Asia Cup, if a spot opens up for him.
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Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
Jasprit Bumrah has sent out a video on social media in the recent past, in which he was seen practising vigorously at the nets, to make his potential return from injury at the Asia Cup, if not earlier. Mohammed Shami, who has been given a rest by the Indian team management for the tour of West Indies, is going to be one of the top picks for the multi-nation event.
Mohammed Siraj is looked upon as the third seamer in the best possible Team India one day international squad, who is ably supported by the likes of Shardul Thakur and Umran Malik, as and when needed. The spinners for the Indians at the Asia Cup are expected to be Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who have had their ups and downs in the ODIs during their careers.
