Asia Cup 2022 is set to happen later this year. It is after a gap of four years that the tournament will be happening. In this article, we take a look at five Indians part of the previous Asia Cup but are nowhere close to the squad now.
India is the most successful team in the history of the competition. Asia Cup has been usually held as an ODI tournament but in 2016, it was a T20I competition. While it was an ODI tournament in 2018, it will be a T20I series this year. In the last few years, a lot of changes have happened in Team India. Hence, some of the important players of the squad then are not even in the frame of things at the moment.
1) Kedar Jadhav
Kedar Jadhav did enjoy a decent stint with Team India as a batter in the lower middle-order. The Maharashtra batter also displayed his skills as a bowler. This versatility helped him to retain his place in the XI. However, after his batting form dropped, Kedar was left out of the Indian squad. Even in IPL, Kedar does not have a contract and last played in 2021. He will need a strong domestic outing to make a comeback, at least, in IPL.
2) Manish Pandey
Manish Pandey is one of the Indians part of the previous Asia Cup but is nowhere close to the squad now. Back then, Manish was a regular part of the middle order. However, with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Deepak Hooda establishing their spots, a comeback looks very hard for Manish. That said, Manish is a good player and if he can change his approach, he could still return to the squad. However, for T20I cricket, a return is very hard because it might be very late for Manish to change his batting strategy.
3) Siddarth Kaul
Thanks to his performances in the IPL, Kaul was given a chance in Team India. However, in the limited opportunities that he got, Kaul was not able to leave an impression. Hence, he had to be dropped from the squad. With India preferring quicker bowlers and pacers with specialist skills, Kaul is not close to Team India. It needs to be seen how the Punjab player would do in the upcoming domestic events. The bowler is currently part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in IPL.
4) Khaleel Ahmed
Khaleel Ahmed is also one of the Indians part of the previous Asia Cup but is nowhere close to the squad now. A promising left-arm pacer, Khaleel was part of Team India for a while. However, due to poor form, he was dropped. Nevertheless, although the likes of Arshdeep Singh are ahead right now, Khaleel can still execute a comeback. He needs to maintain his pace, have a good domestic season and back it up with a brilliant IPL campaign to get back into the eyes of the selectors. This is very much possible at the moment.
