The much awaited Indian cricket team’s squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 has been officially announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that also acts as somewhat provisional squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 to be played India after Asia Cup 2023.
The upcoming couple of weeks are going to be crucial for the Indian cricket team. The Indian national team have not won a single ICC Trophy after the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 to be played in India and the last World Cup that India won was in India too, the historic 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, the expectations are really.
The BCCI obviously want to win the Asia Cup 2023 to be played in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but the ultimate aim will be to get all bases covered before the big match.
Today, the BCCI has officially announced the Indian team squad for the Asia Cup 2023. The Indian team will begin its campaign on the 2nd of September against the arch-rival Pakistan.
The big question was the number 4 position, with Shreyas Iyer’s injury, there was nobody to fill that void, but a big sigh of relief for the Indian fans is that Shreyas Iyer has been included while KL Rahul who was also injured, has been included in the team. Young Tilak Varma has also been included in the team after his impressive performance in the West Indies T20I series.
Indian cricket team squad for Asia Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Traveling stand-by player: Sanju Samson
While the squad looks good, there has been some player who have not been picked in the squad. Let us take a look.
Yuzvendra Chahal
33-years-old Yuzvendra Chahal has been not picked in the squad. The leg-spin bowler has been a key player for the Indian cricket team, but he has been excluded from the squad. In 72 ODI matches he has played, he has picked 121 wickets.
Arshdeep Singh
Other than the number 4 position, another role that the Indian cricket team don’t have a option for is a left-arm pacer. Arshdeep Singh made headlines with his performance in the T20I format, but his recent performance has been quite underwhelming while he has not been good enough in the ODIs.
Umran Malik
Umran Malik’s pace bowling fast-tracked him to the Indian team. Umran has so far played in T20I and ODI format for India. In the 10 matches he has played for India, he has taken 13 wickets, but has found no place in the Indian team.
Ravichandran Ashwin
Indian cricket team’s veteran off-spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has been one of the best ever player for India. He has done tremendously well for the Indian team in all formats he has played and given the Indian conditions support spin bowling, so Ashwin’s addition would have been a welcome move, however, he has been excluded from the Asia Cup 2023 squad.
