How does the Indian squad for the Asia Cup look like
Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian Squad for Asia Cup. The Asia Cup will start on 15th September and will end on 28th September. Also, India will be playing two games in a row on 18 & 19 September. The much-awaited game between India and Pakistan will be played on 19th September. Rohit Sharma will lead the team in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, who has been rested for the series.
Openers
The opening department will be handled by captain Rohit Sharma & vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan. KL Rahul will be the backup opener. Rohit and Dhawan are in good form while KL Rahul is a bit off-colour. Also, KL Rahul is expected to bat at No. 3 in place of rested skipper Kohli.
Middle Order
Currently, India is a lot struggling in finding perfect middle-order batsman, specifically for no. 4 & no. 6 position. Apart from MS Dhoni nobody has a fixed place in the middle-order. With Kedar Jadhav now fully-fit, he is expected to take his no. 6 position back. Meanwhile, Rayudu and Manish Pandey are the contenders for the no. 4 slot. Currently, all the players are in form, especially Manish Pandey, who scored more than 300 runs at a strike rate of 99.15 in recently concluded Quadrangular Series between India A, India B, South Africa A & Australia A. Out-of-form Dinesh Karthik is likely to stay on the sidelines.
All-rounders
Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel will be two options for all-rounders spot with Axar Patel more likely to play due to spin-friendly conditions in UAE. Currently, both the players are in England and are performing well for their respective teams. Hardik Pandya recently played a huge part in India's victory in the third Test against England and is performing well. Meanwhile, Axar Patel is playing for Durham in County Division two and has performed significantly.
Fast bowlers
The usual suspects Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah are now fit and will lead the bowling attack while Shardul Thakur holds his position on the back of strong performances in previous tours. Also, Left-arm bowler Khaleel Ahmed has been added to the squad.
The 20-year-old earned his place on the back of a consistent show in domestic cricket and recently concluded Quadrangular series. He has taken 15 wickets in his last 9 outings and has never gone wicket-less. Also, he can solve India's problem of an aggressive left-handed bowling option.
Spinners
Chahal and Kuldeep will handle the department as usual. Currently, Chahal and Kuldeep are bit rusty and are out of form in white ball cricket, but they are likely to play a huge part in friendly conditions.
India squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.