The Indian team will now be in action in the 16th edition of the Asia Cup. The tournament is set to begin on August 30 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan will face Nepal in the tournament’s opener in Multan.
Team India will play their first game on September 2 against archrival Pakistan in Pallekele. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee announced the Indian squad for the tournament, and it saw some big names coming up. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer made their comebacks after injuries. India will enter the tournament with an almost full-strength team.
Tilak Varma also got his maiden ODI callup, while Suryakumar Yadav has retained his place. But some players were not so lucky. One of the biggest names to miss out was veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. India picked only one specialist spinner, Kuldeep Yadav.
Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are two spin all-rounders. Many former cricketers were shocked after Chahal’s snub. Because India will play all their games in Sri Lanka, where the pitches will help the spinners a lot. Former South African star AB de Villiers was also disappointed by Chahal’s exclusion.
De Villiers and Chahal both played numerous games for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, De Villiers said that it was a disappointing decision because Yuzi has always been a match-winner.
He said, “It is a bit of a disappointing drop for me. I think Chahal is always handy with that leg-spinning option. We know how skillful and smart he can be.”
Furthermore, De Villiers lauded Jasprit Bumrah’s performance in his comeback series against Ireland. Bumrah made his comeback after 10 months and looked in rhythm right away. In two games, he took four wickets and won the Man of the Series award. India couldn’t qualify for the final of the Asia Cup in the last two editions, so they will look to do well this time around.
