'There are slight concerns': Ex-India opener's brutal assessment of Shreyas Iyer's form

India will start their Asia Cup campaign against Pakistan on 2nd September. The Men in Blue are scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka as they will play all their Asia Cup fixtures in their neighbouring country. Asia Cup will start from August 30 as Pakistan are set to face Nepal in the inaugural fixture.

3 things you need to know

• India to face Pakistan on 2nd September
• India are the defending champion of the Asia Cup in the 50 over format
• Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in Asia Cup final last year

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Shreyas Iyer's return to international cricket

The selectors announced an 18-member squad for the continental championship and Ajit Agarkar hinted that the ICC World Cup squad will also be made of these players as it stands. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra raised severe concerns over India's reliability in the middle order. Shreyas Iyer hasn't played a competitive game since his injury while It has been confirmed that KL Rahul will not be playing the first two matches in the Asia Cup.

On his YouTube channel he said, "There are slight concerns in your batting at No. 4 and No. 5 because they have not played much cricket. It is not only No. 4 and No. 5, if you see Jasprit Bumrah, you will say that he too hasn't played much cricket. As things stand now, we don't know how Shreyas Iyer will play, and it seems KL Rahul might not be available for the first match."
He also suggested that India might struggle without an off spinner as he pointed out that Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel cannot be picked together.

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Chopra highlights major concern for Team India

“The second point is that there is no off-spinner. It will be a point of discussion because as soon as you see two or three left-handers in the opposition team, you will feel that you cannot play Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja together."
He further added, “So they will look to play Shardul Thakur at No. 8, Kuldeep Yadav at No. 9, and then the two fast bowlers. Ideally, you should be able to play all three fast bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammad Shami - but there is an obsession for a batter at No. 8