Asia Cup 2023: India squad announced; KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer back
India, the most successful team in the history of Asia Cup, will open their campaign on September 2 against Pakistan in Pallekele, Sri Lanka.
The BCCI selection panel on Monday (August 21) announced the Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2023 tournament to be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have made a comeback to the 17-man squad after recovering from injuries. Iyer last played in March and Rahul in May. Young left-handed batter Tilak Varma has been rewarded for his impressive showing in his maiden T20I series in the West Indies recently.
Also making their comebacks to the ODI line-up were Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna. Both are currently playing in the T20I series in Ireland with Bumrah leading the side. Sanju Samson has been named as the reserve player.
The Indian squad for Asia Cup was announced in Delhi at a press conference by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) selection panel chief Ajit Agarkar in the presence of captain Rohit Sharma. Hardik Pandya will be the vice-captain of the team.
Agarkar said Samson has been added to the squad as a back-up for Rahul who has developed a niggle recently.
"It is not the original injury. There is a niggle. That is why Sanju is travelling (to Sri Lanka). We are expecting Rahul to be fit. If not the start of Asia cup may be by the second or the third game. Shreyas Iyer is fully fit," said Agarkar.
India, the most successful team in the history of the Asia Cup with seven titles, will open their campaign on September 2 against Pakistan in Pallekele, Sri Lanka.
There are six teams in the fray – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Asia Cup will be played in the 50-over format. The tournament assumes significance as it comes ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023 to be played in India from October 5 to November 19.
Asia Cup 2023 teams are divided into two groups. India, Pakistan and Nepal are in Group A while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan make up Group B. The top two from each group will qualify for the Super Four stage.
India Squad for Asia Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.
Travelling standby player: Sanju Samson
Asia Cup 2023 Schedule (All times IST)
- August 30 (Wednesday): Pakistan vs Nepal, Multan (3 PM)
- August 31 (Thursday): Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Pallekele (3 PM)
- September 2 (Saturday): India vs Pakistan, Pallekele (3 PM)
- September 3 (Sunday): Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Lahore (3 PM)
- September 4 (Monday): India vs Nepal, Pallekele (3 PM)
- September 5 (Tuesday): Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, Lahore (3 PM)
- September 6 (Wednesday): A1 vs B2, Lahore (3 PM)
- September 9 (Saturday): B1 vs B2, Colombo (3 PM)
- September 10 (Sunday): A1 vs A2, Colombo (3 PM)
- September 12 (Tuesday): A2 vs B1, Colombo (3 PM)
- September 14 (Thursday): A1 vs B1, Colombo (3 PM)
- September 15 (Friday): A2 vs B2, Colombo (3 PM)
- September 17 (Sunday): Final, Colombo (3 PM)
Asia Cup 2023 Squads
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Litton Das, Tanzid Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Sheikh Mahedi, Nasum Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Naim Sheikh.
Nepal: Rohit Paudel (captain), Mahamad Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Aarif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Pratish GC, Kishor Mahato, Sundeep Jora, Arjun Saud, Shyam Dhakal.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.
Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are yet to announce their squads.
