India squad for Asia Cup 2018

India's 16-member squad for the 2018 Asia Cup has been announced. The team will be led by Rohit Sharma, who will captain the side in the absence of Virat Kohli. Shikhar Dhawan has been named vice-captain for the event that starts on 15th September in the United Arab Emirates.

The side includes Manish Pandey, who hasn't played an ODI for India since December 2017 but was in tremendous form during the recently concluded Quadrangular A series, racking up 306 runs without getting dismissed even once. He hit a hundred and two fifties in the tournament, captaining the India B side to the title.

The side has two frontline wicketkeepers in Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik. Ambati Rayudu, who had failed a fitness test earlier this year, returns to the squad, having last played an ODI for India in 2016.

The side also includes Khaleel Ahmed, the Rajasthan-born uncapped pacer who played the U-19 World Cup and was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL.

The spin department has leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, whose last ODI for India came against New Zealand in 2017.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had been recovering from injury and gave the England Test series a miss, has been included, although Umesh Yadav could not find a place in the squad.

Kohli, who is currently leading the side in England in the ongoing Test series, has had recent issues with his neck, which even led to him skipping his maiden County stint, just before the England series.

Team India for Asia Cup, 2018 announced. Rohit Sharma set to lead the side in UAE #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/mx6mF27a9K

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 1, 2018

Here's the full squad:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Y Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed

The Asia Cup will be held from September 15 to 28, with matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.