NEWS
Follow UsIndia have announced a 15-man squad for the Asia Cup T20 2022. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul return to the squad, while Jasprit Bumrah misses out due to a back injury. Harshal Patel misses out due to a side strain and is likely to miss the T20 World Cup as well.
Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Axar Patel, who was the player of the match in the fifth T20I against West Indies have been named as standby players. With 449 runs at a strike-rate of 143 in T20Is this year, Iyer, who has the most runs this year for India does not make it to the main team.
"Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru," the BCCI statement said.
Kohli, who last played for India in the ODIs against England, was rested for the white-ball tour of West Indies and also the ODI series in Zimbabwe. Rahul, on the other hand, has not featured in the Indian side since the home series against West Indies. He was set to join the side for the T20Is in the Caribbean but tested positive for Covid-19 which did not allow him to make the trip.
Rahul also underwent surgery in Germany after a groin injury had kept him out of the England tour. Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are the two wicketkeepers. With Ishan Kishan - India's second-highest run-getter in T20Is this year not considered, Pant is the only left-handed batter in the side other than Ravindra Jadeja.
With Bumrah out, Avesh Khan has been given an extended run in the team. Other than Avesh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya make up the fast bowling line-up, while R Ashwin, Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi will perhaps battle it out for the two spinners spot.
With Chahal rested for the T20Is against West Indies, Bishnoi grabbed the opportunities with both hands, picking up eight wickets in three matches, which included a career-best spell of 4 for 16 in the final T20I in Florida. Sanju Samson and Kuldeep Yadav, who were part of the T20I series against West Indies are the other notable exclusions.
Mohammed Shami, who was part of India's T20 World Cup squad last year does not find a place in the squad.
India begin their Asia Cup campaign against Pakistan in Dubai on August 28.
India squad for Asia Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (vc), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Stand-bys: Shreyas, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel
