With the men’s ODI World Cup scheduled to begin in India on October 5, two days before the end of the Asian Games cricket competition, the BCCI has named a second-string men’s side, while the women’s squad for the competition in Hangzhou is at full strength.
Notably, this was the first India call-up for Uttar Pradesh batter Rinku, who had set the IPL alight with his power and finishing skills for Kolkata Knight Riders. Vidarbha and Punjab Kings finisher Jitesh also found a place in this squad after being omitted for the T20Is in the Caribbean and USA. This is also an opportunity for allrounder Washington Sundar and his Sunrisers Hyderabad team-mate Rahul Tripathi to prove their T20 chops again. Both players had been part of the home T20I series against New Zealand in February earlier this year, but they were also left out for the upcoming T20Is against West Indies. Both players, though, have been on a steady diet of T20 cricket recently, having turned out in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and MPL (Maharashtra Premier League).
Bengal and Royal Challengers Bangalore left-arm fingerspinner Shahbaz Ahmed will work with Washington and Bishnoi in the spin attack. Shivam Dube is the only seam-bowling allrounder in the main squad although he didn’t bowl a single ball for champions Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023. Dube had hurt his finger while fielding against Mumbai Indians in May and played the IPL knockouts with the injury. He has now recovered sufficiently to be named in both this squad and the West Zone squad for the Deodhar Trophy.
Venkatesh Iyer didn’t make it to the main squad and was part of the list of reserve players, which also included B Sai Sudharsan, who turned heads with a 47-ball 96 for Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 final against CSK. R Sai Kishore, who has had multiple stints as a net bowler with the Indian sides, was also among the stand-bys. Punjab’s Prabhsimran Singh was picked as the second keeper behind Jitesh.
Cricket has featured twice in the Asian Games before – in 2010 and 2014 – but India didn’t take part either time. As in the 2010 and 2014 editions, T20 will be the format of the cricket event in Hangzhou. The men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games will run from 28th September to 8th October.
India men’s squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
Stand-bys: Yash Thakur, R Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, B Sai Sudharsan