No surprises in India’s Asia Cup squad with World Cup looming large

And so, at last, the BCCI selectors named India’s squad for the 2023 Asia Cup. A squad that has so much anticipation around it, going back months on account of injuries to Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah and heightened by each passing selectorial error during the recent tour of the West Indies.

After the squad was announced, refreshingly during a press conference in Delhi addressed by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma – this has become very rare over the past few years – there were obvious questions asked and eyebrows were no doubt raised at a few of the selections. No offspinner? Just one specialist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav? Yuzvendra Chahal dropped? Only one wicketkeeper in Ishan Kishan, with Agarkar stating that a recent niggle has left Rahul “not 100 percent fit?” Prasidh Krishna back after two T20Is over the past three days? Sanju Samson as standby?

To understand how the selectors and team management arrived at this squad of 18 – Sanju Samson is on standby for the Asia Cup, given the doubts over Rahul’s ability to keep wickets – there are several parameters to consider. The specter of the ODI World Cup loomed large over the West Indies and Ireland tours, given that Bumrah had been out of action for 11 months and the vital pair of Iyer and Rahul had suffered injuries in the past four months. While it was hoped that all three would return for the Asia Cup, the apparent lack of a contingency plan on behalf of the BCCI left many confused and agitated. Hence Tilak Varma, all of 20 and two T20Is old last month, saw his name being taken in talk about the Asia Cup and World Cup. The absence of Arshdeep Singh from India’s ODI plans all year was also somewhat puzzling, given he is a left-arm pacer.

Now while no Indian squad ever assembled has pleased everyone, this one for the Asia Cup has a sense of stability to it. Straight away, the return of Bumrah, Iyer and Rahul was expected. Each of these three cricketers occupies a special place in the team setup, based on their success. Bumrah was India’s three-format bowling spearhead before he got injured in 2022; Iyer has been India’s best No 4 for two years; and Rahul, despite some inconsistency, has the best No 5 stats in ODIs for the past 24 months while doubling up as a third opening option if needed.

The inclusion of Varma after seven T20Is in the past few weeks can be viewed from the perspective that India still have worries over Iyer and Rahul, as well as the team’s need for a left-handed option. Though the T20I sample size is small, Varma has shown in his India opportunities as well as in the IPL across two years that he is not one to throw away his wicket. This, allied by a super List A record, makes for an attractive option for the selectors. However, one hopes that this premature elevation for the 20-year-old Varma does not tamper with India’s plans set in place already.

The return of Karnataka pacer Krishna after a long time was welcome news last week, as he slotted in for his T20I debut in Ireland. Krishna’s prior international experience was 14 ODIs between March 2021 and August 2022, from which he claimed 25 wickets with an economy of 5.32. To offer your perspective, in the history of Indian cricket only one bowler has taken more wickets after 14 ODIs, and that is Agarkar. Such impressive ODI numbers, allied with Krishna’s height and ability to generate pace, made him an attractive option for the selector and team management. Like Bumrah, as soon as he sent down eight overs in Ireland, Krishna was straight back into the Asia Cup fray.

No Chahal should not surprise anyone, because he has hardly featured in ODIs over the past 12 months. In the last year, Chahal has played six ODIs to Kuldeep’s 18 so it was very evident which wrist-spinner the team was going to go with for the Asia Cup and World Cup. Since Rohit took over, Chahal has got seven ODIs from which he has 15 wickets as compared to nine matches and 20 wickets that Kuldeep has played under Rohit. Stats matter here, even though it can be argued that unlike his predecessor Virat Kohli, Rohit has not properly understood how to use Chahal in ODIs.

Washington Sundar returned from injury sustained during the IPL and was fit enough to play in Ireland as well as the upcoming Asian Games, but could not find a place in India’s ODI squad. He is a very talented allrounder with good ODI numbers and his offspin and lower-order batting would have been an asset, but the selectors and team management instead opted for Axar Patel as the second spin-bowling allrounder after Ravindra Jadeja. Odd, many will say, because of the similarities with Jadeja. However, Washington has gone wicketless in two T20Is versus Ireland and Axar, being a left-handed batting option, finds more favour in the current setup. Axar has 13 wickets in 14 ODIs over the past 12 months, conceding runs at 4.82 per over, and is not injury prone like Washington. So, it makes sense that he has been picked under Rohit’s leadership.

While this may not look like a World Cup-winning squad, it is as good as possibly could have been selected given the problems that have hampered India’s preparations for months.

India’s Asia Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (v/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Traveling stand-by player: Sanju Samson