Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally announced Team India's star studded squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 which is set to commence from August 30. India skipper Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar came up with the 17-member squad which saw some surprise entries in the fold with the return of injury-recovered KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer. India's young batting sensation Tilak Varma also earned India's ODI call-up after his exploits in the just-concluded T20I series against West Indies. And above all, India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is back to bolster India's squad for the marquee Asia Cup 2023. This is not it, seasoned batter Sanju Samson has also been kept into India's squad as a backup.
Meanwhile, in the press conference India skipper Rohit made gave his insights on the much talked about India's batting order which boasts of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja.
When Rohit was asked about Ishan Kishan's batting position he explicitly said,"No one should be in the team saying I'm good at this position. We want guys who can bat anywhere when needed. Not just now but this has been the case for many years. The message has been conveyed. This is international cricket and not club cricket. They have to be ready to play in any position that the team needs. We don't want to be handicapped or stuck with one player batting in one position. Having said that, we want to get the best out of our players but no one has a set position. This has been told to the players, that they have to be flexible."
Team India's Asia Cup squad:
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna
Reserve player: Sanju Samson.
The 16th edition of the Asia Cup will see six teams — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, UAE and Nepal — clashing against each other for the coveted trophy. Pakistan will take on Nepal in the Asia Cup opener in Multan on August 30 while India will open their campaign against Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Here's the complete Asia Cup 2023 schedule:
August 30 Pakistan vs Nepal - Multan, Pakistan
August 31 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka - Kandy, Sri Lanka
September 2 India vs Pakistan - Kandy, Sri Lanka
September 3 Bangladesh vs Afghanistan - Lahore, Pakistan
September 4 India vs Nepal - Kandy, Sri Lanka
September 5 Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan - Lahore, Pakistan
SUPER 4s
September 6 A1 Vs B2 - Lahore, Pakistan
September 9 B1 vs B2 - Colombo, Sri Lanka
September 10 A1 vs A2 - Colombo, Sri Lanka
September 12 A2 vs B1 - Colombo, Sri Lanka
September 14 A1 vs B1 - Colombo, Sri Lanka
September 15 A2 vs B2 - Colombo, Sri Lanka
September 17 Final - Colombo, Sri Lanka
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
IND vs IRE: Bumrah emulates Bhuvneshwar's all-time T20I record after stunning spell in 2nd T20I vs Ireland
B-Love Kandy clinch 2023 Lanka Premier League title, beat Dambulla Aura by 5 wickets in thrilling final
