On Friday, the BCCI announced India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming Asian Games 2023. It saw a bunch of Indian youngsters make it to the team after their consistent domestic performance, followed by a good IPL season. Ruturaj Gaikwad got the Indian captaincy and will lead the team in the event in China.
The upcoming event is the 19th edition of the Asian Games, which will take place between September 23 and October 8 in Hangzhou. On the other hand, the World Cup will start in India on October 5. This is only the third time that cricket is part of the Asian Games and the first time that India has sent a men’s team to play.
The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been sidelined completely, and it looks like the end of the road for them. Meanwhile, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, and Prabhsimran Singh all had a good IPL season and got their maiden call-ups. However, there were a few Indian players who didn’t feature in the team but would be happy to not be part of the squad.
4 Indian Players who will be happy to not be part of the Indian squad for Asian Games 2023 in China
1. Sanju Samson
After missing a number of international series for India due to injury. But he made his comeback in the Indian team for the white-ball series against the West Indies on India’s ongoing tour. Samson, who played his international game for India in November 2022. He will feature in the upcoming series against the West Indies. His omission from the team means that he has a chance to play in the World Cup squad.
2. Umran Malik
Another name that made it into the Indian team with a lot of buzz was speedster Umran Malik. Though he is a regular in the Indian squad in the shorter format, he has some ODI games under his belt. He has played eight ODIs and eight T20Is so far and is also part of the Indian team for ODIs and T20Is for the upcoming series against the West Indies. The BCCI didn’t pick him, so he could possibly be a backup option for India for the ODI World Cup.
3. Ishan Kishan
Another unlucky but rather lucky player is wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan. After Rishabh Pant’s horrible car accident, India is searching for an impactful wicketkeeper across formats. They have tried a number of players for the job. Ishan is one of them and has done a decent job. He recently made his Test debut in the first game against the West Indies in Dominica. So it looks like he is on India’s radar as a wicketkeeper in the World Cup, which is why he was not picked for the Asian Games 2023.
4. Kuldeep Yadav
The BCCI picked Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, and Shahbaz Ahmed as the spinners for the India team in the Asian Games. But they left out Kuldeep Yadav, which indicates that the left-arm chinaman can be a possible World Cup pick for India. There is no doubt that the spinners will have a big role in India for the ODI World Cup. Kuldeep has some great numbers in ODIs at home. Thus, this might be the reason that he is not part of the Asian Games.
