The much-awaited announcement was made on Monday. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has announced the 17-member squad for India that will take part in the 16th edition of the Asia Cup. The Asia Cup 2023 will start on August 30, while India will play their first game on September 2 against Pakistan in Pallekele.
The Indian squad saw some big names come back into the team. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have also made comebacks after injuries, while Hardik Pandya has retained the role of vice captain. Tilak Varma was an interesting pick in the squad.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have also retained their places in the ODI team. Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj have made comebacks after a break. The Indian captain Rohit Sharma was also present at the conference.
He confirmed that they will not do any experiments in India’s top 3. It means Rohit will open the innings along with Shubman Gill, while Virat Kohli will bat at No. 3. However, when the squad was announced, the host broadcaster, Star Sports, made a big error. Notably, Star Sports broadcasts every update live.
But when the squad was announced, they made a big error and informed us that Gill was not part of the team. But after knowing about the error, they confirmed that Gill was not dropped and Sanju Samson was the backup player for the upcoming tournament.
1.26pm – Shubman Gill is not there in Asia Cup 2023 squad.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 21, 2023
1.34pm – Shubman Gill is there in Asia Cup 2023 squad. pic.twitter.com/y8bKYGaUUe
Ajit Agarkar said, "Shikhar Dhawan has been terrific for India, but currently Rohit Sharma, Gill and Kishan are our 3 preferred openers". pic.twitter.com/LMg0MyGTVf
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 21, 2023
Speaking of the squad, Agarkar confirmed that Rohit, Gill, and Ishan are the three preferred openers at the time. It means that it might be the end of Shikhar Dhawan. Rahul is part of the squad but has a small niggle, which is why Samson is available. Though if Rahul does not make it into the playing XI, then Kishan will take his place. Yuzi Chahal, Ravi Ashwin, and Dhawan are the major names to miss the squad.
