Decoding Team India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad: Not many surprises but question marks remain
Team India’s squad for Asia Cup 2023 was announced on Monday, August 21, by BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar. The Men in Blue will head to the Asia Cup with a 17-member squad, with keeper-batter Sanju Samson chosen as a backup.
There are not too many surprises in the Rohit Sharma-led squad. The big news of course is the much-awaited return of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer from injury even as BCCI chief selector Agarkar confirmed that the former has picked up another niggle that is not related to his original injury.
Also, young batter Tilak Varma has been rewarded for his wonderful performances during the T20Is in West Indies in what was his debut international series. Lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, who made their international comebacks during the ongoing T20I series in Ireland, also find a place in the Asia Cup 2023 squad.
In the wake of Team India’s squad announcement for the Asia Cup, we analyze some key takeaways.
Team India willing to back Rahul, Shreyas despite rustiness concerns
Based on their ODI records, both Rahul and Shreyas walk into the Indian team without a doubt. Rahul averages 45.13 from 54 ODIs, while Shreyas has an average of 46.60 from 42 games. However, the fact remains that both have been away from competitive cricket for a while now.
Rahul last featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in May this year, where he picked up a thigh injury. And now it has emerged that he has a fresh niggle. Shreyas has been out of action due to a back injury since March. He last featured in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home.
There is no doubting the talent that the batting duo possesses, but the risk of them being rusty heading into the World Cup remains. After the Asia Cup, they only have a three-match ODI series against Australia before they feature in the ICC event.
In case, one of the two or both fail to regain their rhythm, Team India could find themselves in a soup.
Faltering SKY too tempting an option to ignore
Not many batters would be able to retain their spot in the team with the kind of ODI record that Suryakumar Yadav possesses - 511 runs in 26 matches at an average of 24.33. The man himself has admitted that his ODI record is very poor. However, the kind of potential that Suryakumar offers is too tempting for Indian cricket to ignore.
It is no secret that the Mumbai Indians (MI) star has the ability to play some rollicking innings. In fact, he made a decent start to his ODI career as well before things went completely haywire.
Critics would obviously argue that Suryakumar’s selection on the basis of his T20I exploits is a flawed one. There is merit in the argument for sure, but the decision over SKY seems to be based more on instinct than performance.
Intriguingly, Suryakumar’s inclusion in the Asia Cup means Samson misses out again (he has been named as backup). Samson’s case is quite the antithesis of Suryakumar. The Kerala stumper possesses an abysmal T20I record, but the spillover effect has cost him his ODI spot.
Yes, Samson’s average of 55.71 in ODIs has been boosted by five not-outs. But it’s equally a fact that he’s done much better than Suryakumar in the format despite being given limited opportunities.
Chahal pays the price for India’s ‘balanced’ approach
The selection or non-selection of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for the Asia Cup was always going to come down to the kind of balance India were seeking in their squad.
The 33-year-old has undoubtedly been a match-winner for India in the one-day format. However, with Ravindra Jadeja a certainty and Kuldeep Yadav making a significant impact lately, it all boiled down to Chahal’s bowling ability versus Axar Patel’s all-round skills. The selectors went with the latter.
The decision to drop Chahal from the team is debatable for sure but wasn’t surprising in the wake of head coach Rahul Dravid’s comments over lack of depth in batting following the shock T20I series loss in West Indies.
It can of course be argued that if Chahal has been dropped for lack of batting prowess, it doesn’t say much about the main batters in the squad. The debate over the leggie’s exclusion is likely to continue for the next few days.
Is Tilak Varma a dark horse for World Cup?
Chief selector Agarkar made it clear that Varma’s selection for the Asia Cup doesn’t necessarily mean that he is India’s World Cup plans. The former pacer explained that they saw an opportunity to give the talented batter more international exposure following his impressive T20I debut in West Indies.
Having said that, the left-handed batter could be a dark horse for the World Cup if he makes an impact in the Asia Cup, more so given the uncertainty factor hanging over Rahul, Shreyas, and Suryakumar.