Asia Cup 2018: BCCI sends five net bowlers to the UAE

Asia Cup 2018 begins from September 15 as Sri Lanka take on Bangladesh in the opening match of the tournament. India will begin their campaign on September 18 as they take on Hong Kong at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Ahead of the tournament, the BCCI has sent five net bowlers to the UAE to help the reigning Asia Cup champions with batting practice.

Five players including three fast bowlers - Siddharth Kaul, Avesh Khan, M Prasidh Krishna and two spinners- Mayank Markande and Shahbaz Nadeem will be with the team until the 17th and return back to their respective states before the Vijay Hazare Trophy begins on September 19.

"Not everywhere do you get quality net bowlers and it becomes a problem for the senior team during practice sessions. With back to back games, you don't expect a Bhuvneshwar Kumar or a Jasprit Bumrah to bowl flat out at the nets. Also, the young academy bowlers at times can't provide quality practice. Hence we have got some of our next line of bowlers," a BCCI official confirmed.

From those five players, only Kaul has represented the Indian team in international cricket which was during the limited-overs leg of the England series. Among the other bowlers, the trio of Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Mayank Markande were all impressive in IPL 2018. Shahbaz Nadeem, who is the other spinner apart from Markande has been an experienced player in India’s domestic circuit ever since 2004.

India's Schedule: Sep 18, Tue: India vs Hong Kong, 4th Match, Group A - Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

Sep 19, Wed: India vs Pakistan, 5th Match, Group A - Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

Indian Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, K Khaleel Ahmed