New Delhi: Former skipper Virat Kohli and a fit-again vice-captain KL Rahul were back in the 15-member Indian squad announced Monday for the Asia Cup. However, senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah missed out owing to a back injury. Virat Kohli has opted out of white ball series against the West Indies citing ‘personal reasons’. It led to many former cricketers asking as to how much ‘rest’ would Kohli need.
Rahul, who did not feature in the T20 series against West Indies due to Covid-19, has recuperated from sports hernia surgery and is back as vice-captain.
The notable names dropped from the main squad are batter Shreyas Iyer and left-arm spinner Axar Patel. Seamer Deepak Chahar, who has had a four month lay-off due to hamstring tear and back injury, was also named among reserves. The other absentee from the squad is pacer Harshal Patel owing to rib injury.
“Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bangalore,” the BCCI said on Twitter.
Arshdeep Singh who bowled brilliantly in the just concluded series against the West Indies has been retained in the team for the Asia Cup.
Indian squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wwicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
