The 14th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament is about to kick start at UAE. Starting from September 15th the tournament will carry on till the grand finale on September 28. Defending champions India will be playing against the all-time rival, Pakistan on September 19th which is a much-awaited game for all. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka face each other on the opening game in Dubai.
BCCI declared Rohit Sharma to lead the Indian squad as Virat Kohli is rested after the tiring England Tour. As the vice-captains position is vacated, Shikar Dhawan has taken over the position and as the opening partner. Dhawan is first time taking the vice-captaincy in ODIs even though he performed the same role in Nidahas Trophy at Bangladesh. Kohli was the sole player rested, unlike Hardik Pandya, Dhawan and Rahul who all were part of the team of Indian tour of the UK which ends on September 11.
Bhuwaneshwar Kumar is back in the team after recovering from the neck injury that he suffered during the third England ODI at Leeds. Also in the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah returns to ODI set-up after the thumb injury he sustained during the first T20I against Ireland. The middle-order batsmen, Pandey, Rayudu, and Jadhav were bought back to the squad. Among those who missed out are batsmen Raina and Bowler Umesh Yadav. The selectors also picked up 20-year old left-arm pacer from Rajasthan, Khaleel who impressed all in the shorter formats of the game.
India squad for Asia Cup 2018: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikar Dhawan (VC) , KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.
