Mahela Jayawardena highlights 'concern for India' in Asia Cup; 'He has been out for while'

The upcoming Asia Cup 2022 will be the final chance for some of the players in the Indian team to return to form ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia. India has named a very strong squad with KL Rahul and Virat Kohli making their comeback. However, the team will miss the services of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and fellow pacer Harshal Patel after both players were ruled out due to injury. Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardena during an interview with the ICC website discussed KL Rahul's lack of form as he returns to play from injury. 

Mahela Jayawardena discusses KL Rahul's form ahead of Asia Cup 2022

KL Rahul looked to be in good touch at the IPL while leading the newly formed team Lucknow Super Giants. However, after the IPL season, Rahul has not played even a single match as he was recovering not only from injury but also from COVID-19-related illness. Jayawardena while commenting on KL Rahul's form said that his lack of cricket action could work against him during the Asia Cup. He said, "That (Rahul's lack of cricket) would be a concern for India. He has been out for a little while since the IPL, so having game time is quite crucial especially out there in the middle. The sooner he can get some game time and get that confidence back, is always going to help him, as well as the national team."

Team India for Asia Cup 2022

Speaking of the Team India squad for the Asia Cup 2022, the Rohit Sharma-led team selected for the tournament not only has a couple of surprises but has also set eyeballs rolling following the exclusion of inform players. While Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have all been named as standbys, the likes of Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav and Sanju Samson, who were part of the T20I series in the West Indies, have been left out.  Youngsters Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan and all-rounder Deepak Hooda have managed to keep their place in the team for the tournament.

India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan. 

Standbys: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.