The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced a solid 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 -- the six-team continental tournament which is highly important for team India’s preparations for 2023 ODI World Cup starting in October and will also help Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee make right choices for the mega ICC event.
While addressing the press conference, Ajit Agarkar announced that Shreyas Iyer is now completely fit while KL Rahul is having a niggle but is expected to attain full fitness by the second or third game of the Asia Cup.
"Shreyas Iyer has been declared fully fit. It is great news. KL Rahul is carrying a niggle. But we expect him to get fit by the second or third game of the Asia Cup. These two are extremely important players for us," Agarkar said.
During the press conference, when captain Rohit Sharma was asked about who will play in the number four position for India in Asia Cup and the World Cup, he said, "You got guys who can bat at number four (laughs). It is not about number four, but about the top three, then from there onwards. It is not just one position that can win us a game and a tournament. It is about the batting unit coming together as a batting unit and getting the job done.
"There have been challenges. Guys have been put under pressure. We have had some injuries, we had to try and see other players in that position. We had to rotate them. Some players missed out due to workload management. We had to try what combination suited us. We tried Axar at number four, a left-hander at number four and allowed him to play with freedom. Once we get into World Cup, we want to rest assured that this is what we want to do."
India Squad For Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Traveling stand-by player: Sanju Samson