No place for Sanju Samson and Kuldeep Yadav as former India captain predicts playing XI for UAE clash

Former India captain Kris Srikkanth predicted the side's playing XI for their Asia Cup opener against UAE which is set to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 10. Surprisingly, not only did he snub Sanju Samson from the XI, but also didn't give a place to Kuldeep Yadav either.

Srikkanth chose Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill as his opener before handing the No.3 spot in the batting order to Tilak Varma. He then gave a place to captain Suryakumar Yadav and picked Hardik Pandya as the player to bat on the fifth position. The former batter also included Axar Patel in the XI and handed the wicketkeeping duties to Jitesh Sharma. He went with the pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh and capped off the team with spinner Varun Chakravarthy.

Srikkanth's reason behind not including Kuldeep

After naming his playing XI, Srikkanth revealed why he didn't give a place to Kuldeep in the side and stated that even though it will be quite unfortunate for the left-arm spinner to miss out, it is still quite likely to happen.

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“Unfortunately, it is sad, but it might happen. You have no choice. Then Shivam Dube and Abhishek will have to bowl an over or two if the sixth bowler option is required. If it is on me, I will play seven batters and play Kuldeep," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

“Do you need a century from a batter at number eight? Kuldeep is capable of scoring some runs and he has done it in the past," he added.

Kris Srikkanth’s India playing XI for UAE clash: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.

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Meanwhile, following their match against UAE, India will go on to face arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14. They will wrap up their group stage with the clash against Oman on September 19. Suryakumar Yadav & Co. head into the tournament as the favourites and will be aiming to bring home a record ninth Asia Cup title in their history.