In the later part of this week or the early part of the following week, India’s selectors will choose the team that will compete in the Asia Cup. This will be their final selection before needing to choose the 15 players that will compete in the Twenty20 World Cup in October. Even though there are home Twenty20 International series vs Australia and South Africa after the Asia Cup in September, it is quite possible that the squad for the World Cup will need to be picked before those matches.
India has two possibilities for how they could approach the Asia Cup: they could select their best possible team, or they could use the competition to better evaluate their options for the World Cup. As things stand, 12 spots have been filled, presuming that everyone can qualify. On the batting front, there are players like as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and Dinesh Karthik. Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya should both be considered for the role of all-rounder. The wrist spinner position need to go to Yuzvendra Chahal, while the three fast bowlers ought to be Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Harshal Patel. This frees up three positions, according to ESPNcricinfo’s assessment.
It is currently unknown whether India would select these 12 players in addition to their first choices for backup roles for the Asia Cup, or whether they will give other competitors one last opportunity. It is feasible that the goal should be to accomplish as much as is humanly possible with the three players that are still on the field. The following are some of the potential players whose Asia Cup selection will be extremely important.
Deepak Chahar
Bhuvneshwar has provided a timely reminder of his class despite the fact that Deepak Chahar may have been India’s chosen option as the powerplay wicket-hunter not too long ago. Chahar’s unavailability due to injury has allowed Bhuvneshwar to take over in this role. The fact that Chahar is capable of hitting sixes will continue to entice India, particularly to compensate for the risk that Jadeja would not be successful. Even though his strike rates with the bat and the ball have been concerning this year, Jadeja will continue to be India’s first choice when it comes to an all-rounder. Therefore, in the event that Jadeja’s batting doesn’t go as planned, India may look for a more aggressive spin option; in this scenario, Chahar may bat farther down the order. India would undoubtedly be interested in following his performance at the Asia Cup.
A. R. Ashwin
Interesting fact: in Twenty20 matches played in 2022, Ashwin has a higher batting strike rate than Jadeja does. However, Ashwin’s success in this format is not due to his improved batting performance. The offspinner has emerged as the bankable bowler that teams have gone back to in recent times. An experienced bowler who can offer you four overs with substantial wicket-taking potential and few awful days, the offspinner is the bowler that teams have turned to in recent times. Ashwin has an excellent chance of playing against teams who have multiple left-handed batters, particularly if India is able to get runs from other sources to replace Jadeja’s production. It is difficult to conceive a scenario in which India plays three spinners, but if they face a lineup that is predominantly comprised of right-handers, then Chahal and Jadeja would most likely play as India’s first-choice spinners, and it is unlikely that India will play any other spinners.
Axar Patel
Axar is a like-for-like back-up for Jadeja. The more condensed the format is, the more the competition that Axar presents to Jadeja’s position. On the other hand, it is highly improbable that India will select a player who is just capable of performing that specific function and not much else. At some point in the future, either Jadeja or Axar is going to find themselves in the XI. Therefore, if Axar is selected for the Asia Cup, it will indicate that he continues to pose a challenge to Jadeja’s position.
Deepak Hooda
In the year 2022, Hooda has made the most of every chance that has been presented to him. He has also demonstrated that he is useful with the ball, which is useful in the event that it is necessary for him to bat against left-handed batters for an over or two. Even though it is expected that one batter from the first-choice 12 indicated previously will already be on the bench, there may still be room in the squad of 15 for Hooda to serve as a second batting back-up.
Arshdeep Singh
The fact that Arshdeep is the only left-handed quick in the running is his unique selling proposition (USP), but he also has the ability to hit yorkers at the death. Arshdeep or Chahar might end up being India’s lone option for their second fast bowler if that happens to be the case. Because India already has two definite openers who aren’t six-hitters in Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep may find it difficult to compete with them in the hitting department. There is a good chance that India would select both Arshdeep and Chahar for the Asia Cup and watch how both of them perform.
Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi
The two wrist spinners have been included in the Twenty20 International set-up over the past several months; however, India’s recent selections indicate that they will not play two wrist spinners in the same XI, and it is possible that they will not require back-up for Chahal. However, you shouldn’t be shocked if either Kuldeep or Bishnoi makes it through to the next round of the Asia Cup.
