5 Indian Players From 2018 Asia Cup Winning Squad Won't Be A Part Of India Squad For Asia Cup 2022

5 Indian Players From 2018 Asia Cup Winning Squad Won’t Be A Part Of India Squad For Asia Cup 2022. The Asia Cup 2022 will get underway on August 27, as announced by the governing body Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

The Asia Cup 2022 will be the 15th edition of the regional tournament since it was first conducted in 1984 in Sharjah. The continental tournament is scheduled to be played in the T20 format between August 27 and September 11.

Sri Lanka was named the hosts for the Asia Cup 2022, which was initially supposed to be hosted in 2020 but the biennial tournament was deferred due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

Sri Lanka was forced to move the tournament out of the island nation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the previous edition of the tournament was held.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), although, will continue as the hosts of Asia Cup 2022.

India are paired with arch-rivals Pakistan in Group A and one more team will join them through the Asia Cup Qualifier event scheduled between August 20 and 24.

Pakistan is the only team who has announced its squad for the continental event so far. The deadline to announce the team for the Asia Cup is August 8.

India are currently playing West Indies in a five-match T20I series and leads 2-1 with the last two games to be played this weekend. India are the defending champions of both ODI and T20I formats after defeating Bangladesh in both the finals to extend their supremacy in the event winning seven (six ODIs and one T20I) out of 15 titles.

Since the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup will be played in the T20I format, many players from the previous edition might not play this year. Some players might have retired from the game and some have been dropped from the side over inconsistency.

Let us look at 5 Indian players who played in the Asia Cup 2018 but won’t be part of the Indian squad this time.

5 Indian players from 2018 Asia Cup squad won’t be a part of Asia Cup 2022

5) Shikhar Dhawan

The Indian opener was the vice-captain to Rohit Sharma in the Asia Cup 2018 and scored 342 runs at 68.40 with a couple of hundreds.

Dhawan has been out of the T20I squad since July 2021 with the selectors only playing him in the ODI teams. He recently led India in three-match ODI series against the West Indies and will assume the same role in Zimbabwe.

Dhawan might be part of India’s squad for next year’s Asia Cup, which will be played in the ODI format. He was also part of India’s squad in the 2014 and 2016 Asia Cup events.

4) Kedar Jadhav

Jadhav played six games for India in the 2018 Asia Cup but only got the opportunity to bat in three innings. He played an essential role in the final against Bangladesh with an unbeaten 23 to take India past the finishing line.

Jadhav hasn’t played for India since the ODI series against New Zealand before the pandemic took the centre stage. The Maharashtra player last played in a T20I match in October 2017 against Australia at home.

3) Ambati Rayudu

Rayudu was part of India’s Asia Cup squad in the Bangladesh (2014) and UAE (2018) editions. He amassed 175 runs in six innings at 43.75 in the 2018 Asia Cup.

Rayudu last played for India in March 2019 against Australia and was snubbed for the 2019 World Cup in England. He announced his retirement from all formats of the game after being ignored for the World Cup when Rishabh Pant was named cover for Shikhar Dhawan.

Rayudu returned to domestic cricket and has recently moved to Baroda. He also plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL.

2) Khaleel Ahmed

Khaleel made his ODI debut in the Asia Cup 2018 against Hong Kong and picked three wickets for 48 runs. However, his participation in the event was limited to just two games.

Khaleel has played 11 ODIs and 14 T20I matches for India and is out from the white-ball plans owing to his lack of performance. He last featured in the T20I series against Bangladesh in November 2019.

1) MS Dhoni

The former Indian captain scored 690 runs in 20 innings at 69 in five editions of the continental tournament. India won the Asia Cup in 2010 (ODI) and 2016 (T20I) under Dhoni’s leadership.

Dhoni was the first-choice wicketkeeper in the 2018 Asia Cup and amassed 77 runs in four innings. He captained India for the 200th time during the Afghanistan match after then skipper Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan were rested.

Dhoni holds the joint-highest record of most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the Asia Cup. He inflicted 36 dismissals behind the stumps to level with former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara at the top.