5 important points about the Indian squad for Asia Cup

The biennial event Asia Cup will begin on 15th September, just four days after the gruelling tour of Ireland and England for Team India. The tournament holds a great significance as it is the only multi-team event that India will feature in the lead-up to the ICC World Cup in England in 2019.

The team will play a total of six matches (if it reaches the final) and will look to address a few slots in the line-up which are yet not certain. The selectors have named a 16-member squad under the leadership of Rohit Sharma and the players would be looking to seal their berths for the mega event next year.

Here is a look at the important points related to the Indian squad selected for the Asia Cup.

#1: All the all-format players except Virat Kohli selected

With a very less gap between the England tour and the Asia Cup and a full series against Windies at home to follow immediately, it was speculated that a few all-format players may be rested for the Asia Cup.

But, barring the exception of the Indian captain Virat Kohli, who was troubled by a back injury during the Lord’s Test, the selectors have retained a full-strength squad. The chairman of the selection committee MSK Prasad mentioned that the workload of the other players will be managed too by resting them in the upcoming series against Windies.

#2: KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik's Test form does not affect their ODI selection

KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik embarked on the tour to Ireland and England on the back of a magnificent season in the Indian Premier League. Competing for a place in the middle order, Rahul got more opportunities, playing six out of the eight limited-overs fixtures during which he also got his second T20I ton. DK got just one innings where he looked good before dragging an Adil Rashid delivery on to the stumps.

However, in the Test series that followed, the Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper was dropped after the second Test after scoring just 21 runs in four innings. Though Rahul has been retained in the playing XI, he too has had a poor string of scores with a run-tally of just 113 in eight innings. Despite the poor Test form, the selectors have retained both the batsmen thereby judging the performances on a format-to-format basis.

#3: Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav included straightaway after achieving fitness

After a stellar show in the Indian Premier League, Ambati Rayudu was rewarded with a place in the ODI squad against England. But, he was withdrawn from the squad as he could not clear the mandatory Yo-Yo fitness test. Meanwhile, Kedar Jadhav was a regular member of the ODI team playing a useful role down the order and also chipping in with a few overs providing vital breakthroughs. However, injuries have led him to miss out on a majority of the matches this year. As both the players were not dropped, but, out due to fitness concerns, they were straightaway inducted in the squad after attaining the fitness.

#4: Only a few India A performers get an opportunity

The increased frequency of the 'A' tours has resulted in the development of excellent bench strength. The youngsters are performing brilliantly under the guidance of the great Rahul Dravid and staking a claim to be included in the national team. In the recent 'A' tour to England and the Quadrangular series at home the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari, Manish Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Khaleel Ahmed etc. have delivered consistent performances with Shaw, Vihari and Chahar getting called up to the Indian team in England. As the selectors named a strong squad for Asia Cup, only Pandey, Rayudu and newcomer Khaleel made it to the team.

#5: Lack of part-time bowlers in the squad

The bowling attack for India recently has comprised of two pacers, two spinners and an all-rounder in Hardik Pandya irrespective of the conditions. As a result, the team needs a few batsmen who could bowl part-time to cover up for a bowler who has an off-day. The need of such a bowler led to Suresh Raina getting picked ahead of the in-form Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer even though he had not done anything significant to merit the selection. However, barring Kedar Jadhav, the Asia Cup squad is packed with the specialist batsmen.