India announce Asia Cup squad - Cheteshwar Pujara included; Raina and Ishant dropped

Cheteshwar Pujara

After much fan uproar, India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara has been selected in the ODI squad for Asia Cup later this month.

Suresh Raina, who has not been in his best of the forms from the last 8-10 months, has been ruled out of the squad. Under fire for his extended poor form, medium pacer Ishant Sharma has also been dropped.

The squad contains 8 batsmen, 2 spinners, 2 all-rounders and 4 fast bowlers.

Ravichandran Ashwin, struggling overseas lately, has been included in the squad, keeping in mind that the tournament will be taking place in Bangladesh. Amit Mishra is the other specialist spinner in the squad.

Ravindra Jadeja and Stuart Binny are the two all-rounders in the squad. The same bowling unit, which toured New Zealand, has been maintained, except the exclusion of Ishant Sharma.

The four fast bowlers are Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron and Ishwar Pandey.

Asia Cup tournament will begin from 25th February 2014.

Asia Cup squad: MS Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra, Ishwar Pandey.