Asia Cup 2023: BCCI Keen To Pick 17-Member Squad For Asia Cup - Reports

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might name a 17-member squad of the Indian Cricket Team for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 as per the latest reports in PTI. 

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has the provision for a 17-member squad and therefore a governing body is keen to give opportunities in the Asia Cup 2023 before finalizing the final 15-member squad for the ICC World Cup 2023. 

A source close to BCCI revealed the development and stated: “There is a possibility of picking the provisional 15-member squad for the World Cup which needs to be submitted by September 5, but one could make changes as the deadline for the final squad is September 27. For the Asia Cup, a couple of more players could be picked.” 

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have named the 17-member squad for the Asia Cup 2023 and we might see an Indian squad of the same capacity as well. BCCI is expected to name the team for the tournament on the 21st of August. 

Indian captain along with head coach Rahul Dravid will be sitting along with new chief selector Ajit Agarkar to finalize the team for the tournament. After the selection on 21st August, the players along with head coach Rahul Dravid will be heading to NCA in Bengaluru. The camp will start on August 24th before flying to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup.

Here’s India’s likely squad for the Asia Cup 2023 to be picked by BCCI as per reports: 

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk, subject to fitness), Shreyas Iyer (subject to fitness), Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishan Kishan (2nd wk), Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Yuzvendra Chahal/R Ashwin. 

Asia Cup 2023: Shreyas Iyer nears full fitness as he fields for 50 overs in a practice game 

Apart from this, big positive news for India, as per the reports in ESPNCricinfo, is that Shreyas Iyer has almost regained his full fitness. He batted for 38 overs in the practice game at NCA and also fielded for full 50 overs ahead of the Asia Cup 2023. 

Shreyas Iyer has been out of action since February 2023 due to a back injury and after that, he underwent surgery and has been toiling hard at the NCA. But there has been no confirmation about whether he will be making a comeback in the team for Asia Cup.