New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced a 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming Asia Cup T20 tournament. The former Indian captain Virat Kohli is back in action as he makes a return after a break. Kohli last played his international match against England in the White-ball series in June. The Indian team in the upcoming Asia Cup will be led by all-format skipper Rohit Sharma with KL Rahul as his deputy. The upcoming edition of the mega event will take place from August 27 to September 11 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru, said BCCI on Twitter. Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.
India will start their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on the second day of the event, August 28, in a Group A match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah Ruled Out Of Asia Cup With Back Injury: Report
Meanwhile, Senior fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the Asia Cup T20 tournament with a back injury, which would require some time to heal, as reported by news agency PTI.
"Jasprit Bumrah has a back injury and will not play in the Asia Cup. He is our main bowler and we would like him to be back in action before T20 World Cup. We can't risk him in Asia Cup and the injury could aggravate," a senior BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
A total of 6 teams are going to participate in this tournament. Apart from India and Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will take part, while one team will play the Asia Cup 2022 through qualifiers.
In the recently concluded five-match T20 International series between India and West Indies, team India won the series 4-1.
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Y Chahal, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.