Asia Cup 2023: On Monday, BCCI announced the 17-member squad for the Asia Cup 2023. BCCI Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar announced this news in New Delhi. The announcement was made after a selection meeting in the presence of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid.
The squad includes a mix of experience and youth, with the likes of seniors Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah in the Asia Cup 2023. The addition of both KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will give strength to the middle order. Tilak Varma has also received a maiden ODI call-up. Tilak Varma impressed everyone in his T20 debut series against West Indies. The youngster looked good and showed the temperament required for the international stage.
Both former Indian coach Ravi Shastri and the selector Sandeep Patil concurred that they would have the 20-year-old in their team for both the Asia Cup and the World Cup. Sanju Samson has been named as back-up keeper for the Asia Cup 2023.
Agarkar said during the press conference on Tilak Verma’s inclusion in the team, he said, “We saw some real promise in West Indies. It will give him some exposure. We can pick 17 here in the World Cup, it would be 15.”
“Shreyas has been declared match fit. KL has picked up a small niggle that’s why Sanju is with us,” he added.
India will begin their tournament against arch-rival Pakistan on 2nd September and then with Nepal on 5th September in the group stage matches.
Based on the performance of the Asia Cup, the selector will get the chance to pick the final 15-member squad for the World Cup.
Indian Squad List:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (v/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma.