The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup. Rohit Sharma will be leading the side, while KL Rahul, who is making a comeback after almost three months, has been appointed Sharma’s deputy. Virat Kohli has also been included in the 15-member squad after ‘resting’ for a month.
As usual, there were a few surprises as well. Veteran players like R Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik have been included in the squad while youngsters like Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson have been sidelined. It is understood that the selectors are looking at the Asia Cup as a preparatory tournament for the 2022 T20 World Cup which is due in one-and-a-half month. They want to test the team before it flies to Australia.
There have been different reactions to this Asia Cup squad. While a few like Kiran More have raised a few questions, a few have also found it reasonable. But the players who have missed their name in this 15-member squad are definitely not happy. Ishan Kishan who has been playing for India regularly for the past few series seems upset with the selection committee’s decision to leave him out.
The 24-year-old showed his anger and frustration by sharing a few motivational lines from a rap song. Kishan shared the lines on his Instagram story on Wednesday which read, “Ki ab aisa banna nahi, bhale ghayal ho jana. Tujhe phool samjhe koi, tu fire ho jana, Bella Peeche rehna magar sab sambhal”.
Not only Kishan himself, former cricketer Aakash Chopra is also surprised at the southpaw’s omission from the 15-member squad. “There are three backup players: Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, and Axar Patel. But what about poor Ishan Kishan? Ishan Kishan, who was a member of your previous World Cup side, has opened in the most T20 matches since then,” questioned Chopra.