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The Indian squad for the upcoming Asia Cup T20 Cricket will be decided in an important meeting on 8 August. In this discussion, the selectors could physically meet in Mumbai to select the squad on Monday. Captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid will also join the meeting from Florida.
Certain reports around the selection of the players say that fast bowler Arshdeep Singh is set to be picked for the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The reports further add that selectors will focus on the last two T20I against West Indies and will also have to choose between R. Ashwin or Ravi Bishnoi as 2nd spinner in the squad.
Earlier today, reports surfaced of Hardik Pandya being announced as the permanent vice-captain of the T20 team. The 2022 IPL winner was appointed as the vice-captain for the South Africa series where he performed extremely well. The news was confirmed by a senior source from the BCCI, who addressed how Hardik Pandya has shown some great promise when given leadership roles in the recent past like the IPL, the Ireland and South Africa tour.
“Hardik is a world-class player and it’s great to have him back in the team at full fitness. Whether he will be named vice-captain is up to the selectors. But he is already a leader in the group. As an all-rounder, he understands both situations. He has outstanding leadership skills and we saw that in the IPL. He will surely do well,” a senior BCCI official said.
However, KL Rahul will keep his role as the vice-captain of the ODI and Test teams. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, he will lead the team where Jasprit Bumrah will be vice-captain. Bumrah also was given a key leadership task as he led the Indian team in the rescheduled fifth Test against England in Edgbaston.
“Selectors have been selecting the squad via virtual meetings. But this time they will physically meet and select the Indian squad for Asia Cup. We are confident KL Rahul will recover for the event. The team needs his quality of player,” said a top BCCI official to InsideSport.