Mumbai: With only hours left before the Indian team for the upcoming T20 Asia Cup (starting 9 September in the UAE) is finalized, selectors have a long list of options to choose from. The defending champions India will field a mix of specialist batters, bowlers and multi-utility all-rounders.
Reports suggest that on Tuesday, 19 August, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and his panel will announce the squad. T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav has already declared himself fit post-surgery. It remains to be seen whether Test skipper-in-form Shubman Gill is drafted back into the T20 side. Rising all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is still recovering from injury and may miss out. Selectors may even spring a surprise by picking IPL sensation, 14-year-old opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
India’s opening game in the Asia Cup will be against the UAE on 10 September, while the much-awaited India-Pakistan clash is scheduled for 14 September in Dubai.
Although India is the official host of the tournament, it will be staged in the UAE following an understanding between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board. Group ‘A’ features India, Pakistan, UAE, and Oman, while Group ‘B’ has Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong.
Options in front of the selectors:
Suryakumar Yadav (captain, batter), Abhishek Sharma (opening batter & spinner), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper-opener), Shubman Gill (batter), Yashasvi Jaiswal (opener), Hardik Pandya (fast-bowling all-rounder), Axar Patel (spin all-rounder), Jitesh Sharma (wk-batter), Shreyas Iyer (batter), Tilak Varma (batter), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (opener), Shashank Singh (batter), Varun Chakravarthy (spinner), Kuldeep Yadav (spinner), Jasprit Bumrah (fast bowler), Arshdeep Singh (fast bowler), Prasidh Krishna (fast bowler), Harshit Rana (fast bowler), Shivam Dube (fast-bowling all-rounder), Rinku Singh (batter), Washington Sundar (spin all-rounder), Riyan Parag (batter), Ramandeep Singh (fast-bowling all-rounder), Vipraj Nigam (spin all-rounder), etc.
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