Asia Cup 2023: Ishan Kishan To Open With Rohit Sharma As Ravi Shastri, MSK Prasad And Sandeep Patil Pick India Squad For Tournament

Former India players Ravi Shastri, Sandeep Patil, and MSK Prasad have picked Team India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup. The trio picked the squad while speaking on Star Sports’ show ‘Selection Day’.

The sixteenth edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to be played from August 30 to September 17 in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. A total of six teams will be participating in the event. The six teams have been divided into two groups of three teams each.

India are in Group A with Pakistan and Nepal while reigning champions Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are in Group B. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 4s before the top two teams make it to the final. Team India are scheduled to open their campaign in Asia Cup 2023 against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 2 in Pallekele.

Asia Cup 2023: Team India squad picked by former players and selectors:

The BCCI is yet to announce the India squad for the Asia Cup. The board is reportedly set to announce the team on August 20. The reason behind the delay is to have a final update on the availability of some key players who are injured.

Coming to the team picked up Shastri, Prasad, and Patil, the trio have only picked the players who are fit and available for selection. As a result, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have missed out. Rahul is reportedly set to be named in the team but there are doubts over Iyer’s participation in Asia Cup 2023.

Talking about the team, Ravi Shastri snubbed Shubman Gill and picked Ishan Kishan as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner. He took the call to have a right-left hand combination at the top. Patil, however, disagreed with Shastri as he said:

“I will go with Shubman Gill looking at his form. I understand the argument that Ravi and MSK made (in favour of Kishan). But it is very important for the team’s sake. I don’t agree that Rohit Sharma will be more comfortable with a left-handed opening partner. Gill should open with him.”

Shastri further said: “Sandy has a very good point. We talked about Kishan doing well. Shubman Gill has had a fabulous 2023. This is where that flexibility comes. This is where you have to see the player’s frame of mind. How will Shubman Gill feel if asked to bat No.3 or No.4 as opposed to batting at the top? No one owns a position. If Virat has to bat at four, he will bat at four for the team.”

In the end, Rohit Sharma and Gill were picked as openers and Gill made it to the team as the number three batsman. Virat Kohli was demoted to number four followed by Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the three allrounders in the team.

The trio picked Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami as the pacers while Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are the specialists spinners in the team.

Team India’s squad for Asia Cup 2023 picked by Ravi Shastri, Sandeep Patil, and MSK Prasad:

Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav.