WV Raman Expresses Confidence In Indian Men's Team Winning Gold Medal In Asian Games 2023

Former Indian cricketer WV Raman expressed confidence in the Indian men’s cricket team winning a gold medal in the 2023 Asian Games in China. WV Raman emphasized that selectors have picked the best possible strong squad for the multinational tournament.

Cricket returned to the Asian Games after an eight-year absence. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have secured spots in the quarterfinals due to their T20I rankings. India’s opening match is slated for October 3 at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou.

It’s A Very Strong Side – WV Raman

Speaking to the Times of India during the Asian Games 2023, WV Raman emphasized that Indian players consistently performed across various formats.

“It’s a strong side as well because all of them have been really doing well in all formats that they’ve been playing – be it the IPL, domestic cricket or sporadic appearances for the main side. They’ve been doing really well, so it’s a very strong side and quite obviously I would expect them to come back with the gold medal.”

The selectors named a second-string team, with the senior players unavailable for selection as they were part of the much-awaited ODI World Cup 2023 preparations. Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead the team with a mix of young and experienced players.

Good That These Cricketers Are Going To Play In The Asian Games – WV Raman

WV Raman expressed his delight at the exposure the cricketers will receive through the Asian Games. He suggested that this experience could potentially lead to more players emerging for the main team in the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC).

“It gives us a measure of how strong the system is and gives us a measure of what kind of depth we have as far as talent is concerned in this country. It’s also good that these cricketers are going to play in the Asian games and will get game time, as I said earlier. It’s because if they are not to be concurrent, who knows how many of them would’ve been going to play in the Asian games.”

“When you have a World Cup happening and you also have another tournament happening, it’s obviously difficult for the best side to be present in both places. So this side is good enough and is possibly going to churn out a lot more players for the main team in the next cycle of the WTC.”

India’s squad for Asian Games 2023: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk).

Also read: IND vs WI: “Sarfaraz Khan Needs To Improve His Ability To Play Against Fast Bowling” – WV Raman Backs Selectors’ Decision To Exclude Sarfaraz Khan