Asia Cup 2022 is around the corner and India's squad has also been announced for the same which saw the return of Virat Kohli in the fold after taking rest for the five-match T20I series against West Indies.
However, Mohammed Shami couldn't make it to the T20I fixture which is set to kick from August 28 and for former India skipper and ex-chairman of the selection committee Krishnamachari Srikkanth it's a big miss for India. Srikkanth feels instead of Ravi Bishnoi, the 14-man Team India squad must have featured Shami.
"In my team, Shami was literally there. If I was the Chairman of the selection committee, I think Shami would have been there and probably, I would not have gone with Ravi Bishnoi. But I still believe that Axar Patel was a serious contender in my team. It would have been a big toss-up between Axar Patel and Ashwin," said Srikkanth during the show 'Follow The Blues' on Star Sports.
Srikkanth opines that the squad is good but needs one more medium pacer. He feels bad for Axar Patel, who could not make it to the squad.
"I am very happy for Deepak Hooda - he can bowl a bit, he is a good hitter and he's a good striker of the ball. What I like about Deepak Hooda is that he is a good striker of the ball, he is a flirter. Otherwise, this squad is a fantastic squad, only feel bad for Axar Patel. I still believe that he's a good bowling all-rounder, may be in Australia conditions. I am not going for just the Asia Cup, but yes, this must be a blueprint for the ICC T20 World Cup also," he added.
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah is missing from the Asia Cup squad as he is not 100 per cent fit. He sustained a back injury and will be doing his rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru. Harshal Patel is missing from the squad as well as he is yet to recover from rib-injury. Harshal will also be at NCA with Bumrah. In his absence, Avesh Khan has been included in the squad.
India's Asia Cup squad: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Three players - Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.
Asia Cup 2022 schedule
August 27 - Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan in Dubai, 7:30 PM
August 28 - India vs Pakistan in Dubai, 7:30 PM
August 30 - Bangladesh vs Afghanistan in Sharjah, 7:30 PM
August 31 - India vs Qualifier in Dubai, 7:30 PM
September 1 - Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh in Dubai, 7:30 PM
September 2 - Pakistan vs Qualifier in Sharjah, 7:30 PM
September 3 - B1 vs B2 in Sharjah, 7:30 PM
September 4 - A1 vs A2 in Dubai, 7:30 PM
September 6 - A1 vs B1 in Dubai, 7:30 PM
September 7 - A2 vs B2 in Dubai, 7:30 PM
September 8 - A1 vs B2 in Dubai, 7:30 PM
September 9 - B1 vs A2 in Dubai, 7:30 PM
September 11 - Final in Dubai, 7:30 PM
