Web Desk (LTN NEWS): India put star batsman Virat Kohli on their T20 team, even though he hasn’t been playing well. The Asia Cup starts later this month with a match between India and Pakistan, their biggest rivals.
Vice-captain K.L. Rahul also comes back for the tournament in the UAE from August 27 to September 11. Since the end of the Indian Premier League in May, he has missed all of India’s games because of Covid and injury.
National selectors said that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could not play because he was hurt, but they named a strong 15-person squad.
Bumrah is getting treatment at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. He is said to have back spasms.
Three players were named as standbys for the Asia Cup team: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, and Deepak Chahar.
Kohli, who is 33 years old, was not used on the recent tour of the West Indies, and he has not hit a hundred in any format since 2019. Rohit Sharma took over as all-format captain from him last year.
The last Asia Cup was played over 50 overs, but this time it will be played over 20 overs.
Trying to keep the title India is the best team because they have won the trophy seven times.
India’s first game in the six-team tournament is on August 28 against Pakistan. They want to get back at Pakistan for beating them in the T20 World Cup last year.
India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), K.L. Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
