The announcement of India’s Asia Cup 2023 Squad was full of surprises. While youngster Tilak Verma made a cut into the squad, veteran leg-spinner Chahal & R Ashwin were axed from India’s Asia Cup squad. In mid of all these serious discussions during the squad announcement, the Indian captain made a cheeky statement resulting in everyone bursting into laughter. When a reporter asked Rohit if he feels that the 2011 World Cup squad had better all-rounders than the 2023 squad to which his reply left the entire press conference room in laughs.
“Hopefully Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli can bowl some overs in the World Cup (laughs),” Rohit said during the squad announcement.”
After the announcement of the Asia Cup 2023 Squad on Monday, Chahal tweeted two emojis one depicting a sun behind a cloud & the other showing a sun shining. The tweet gave a clear message that though Chahal is currently having a tough time, good & bright days will come again in his life.
Major Highlights of the announced India’s Asia Cup 2023 Squad
Apart from Chahal’s exclusion, the major highlight of the squad is the return of two veterans of the Indian Cricket team. Yes, Shreyas Iyer & KL Rahul who were out of action for a few months due to their respective injuries will make a comeback in Asia Cup 2023 Squad. Shreyas Iyer is completely fit & is all set to grace the field during the marquee event. On the other hand injury concerns still surround KL Rahul who has recovered from a back injury but sustained a niggle. But as per Ajit Agarkar, KL Rahul will be fit by the second or third match of the Asia Cup 2023 & will be back in the lineup. To fill the void from KL’s absence, the team management has named Sanju Samson as a reserve player.
The squad also sees the inclusion of Tilak Verma who hasn’t made his ODI debut yet. But he has been named into the squad on the back of his blistering performances in the recently concluded T20I series against West Indies. The announcement comes as a huge boost for the youngster who might get a chance to play in the marquee event right on his ODI debut. Apart from Tilak, no other surprise inclusions have been made to the announced squad. India’s Asia Cup squad will see the return of Mohammed Siraj & Mohammed Shami in the pace attack. While Shardul Thakur & Hardik Pandya are the pace all-rounders completing their pace attack. Overall India’s squad looks quite settled & can be termed as a preliminary squad for ODI World Cup 2023.
India’s Asia Cup Squad:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (backup)
Also read, Chahal reacts after being axed from Asia Cup Squad
