India's Asia Cup 2023 squad announced; KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer return, Tilak selected

BCCI has announced an 18-member squad for the Asia Cup 2023 which is scheduled to start on 30th August in which Pakistan will take on Nepal which will be played in Multan Cricket Stadium, Pakistan. Indian Team will be led by Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah has been named as his deputy for the upcoming Asia Cup.

Thee Things you need to know

• KL Rahul was injured during IPL in the match between LSG vs RCB
• Team India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan on 2nd September 2023
• The final match of the Asia Cup will take place on 17th September 2023

READ: BCCI receives major update on KL Rahul's fitness ahead of squad announcement for Asia Cup

KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer return

Kl Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who were out from the last few months due to injury have made a return to the Team India squad along with Jasprit Bumrah who is presently leading men in blue in a 3-match T20I series in Ireland. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were closely monitored by BCCI officials before coming to the decision of including them in the Asia Cup 2023 squad. 

KL Rahul's inclusion in the squad may finally bring an end to the long ongoing debate on Team India's wicket-keeper issue, especially with Rishabh Pant still recovering from injuries sustained during a serious car crash in December.

Sanju Samson added as a back-up

It was long debated whether will Sanju Samson make the cut in the squad or not but young Ishan Kishan is given preference over him and seems like Samson has missed the bus to the World Cup as he hasn't performed as per expectations despite being given a good run recently. However, Sanju Samson has been included as a backup wicket-keeper.

READ: Ganguly leaves out Samson as he picks 25-year-old youngster as WK choice for Asia Cup & WC

Team India's squad for Asia Cup 2023

Rohit Sharma (c) , Shubman Gill,  Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (traveling back-up)