 "Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj might not find a place in the Suryakumar Yadav-led India squad for the Asia Cup. AP")
The suspense surrounding India’s squad for next month’s Asia Cup will end in a few hours’ time, with the BCCI set to announce the squad in the press conference that is scheduled to get underway at 1.30 pm on Tuesday, 19 August .
The press conference attended by T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar at the BCCI’s Mumbai headquarters will let Indian cricket circles know whether the Men in Blue intend to stick to what has worked well for them so far, or whether they intend to make some last-minute changes based on recent events.
No place for Gill despite red-hot form?
The spotlight currently is firmly on Shubman Gill, who had recently been appointed Test captain and is expected to take over as the leader across formats soon. The debate, however, is whether that transition should happen right away in the T20I format, especially when a successful combination is already in place under SKY’s leadership.
Gill has been in red-hot form this year – he finished with more than 600 runs in an IPL season for the second time in his career and was on a record-breaking spree with the bat in England, amassing 754 runs in his maiden Test series as captain.
And yet, Gill and designated Test opener Yashasvi Jaiswal coming in place of well-set opening combination Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, or causing floater Tilak Varma to lose his spot would be unfair especially since these players have been on a run-scoring spree for India in the shortest format since Surya succeeded Rohit Sharma as T20I captain last year.
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According to Cricbuzz, either Gill or Jaiswal will be picked in India’s squad, and not both, with the latter appearing to have the edge for now.
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View AllAdditionally, there’s also a compelling case for the inclusion of Shreyas Iyer, who had led Punjab Kings from the front to an IPL final for only the second time in the franchise’ history. As per ESPNCricinfo, it’s going to be a shootout between him and Tilak for No 3.
Siraj’s heroics in England might not be enough
Pacer Mohammed Siraj was also one of the standout performers in the tour of England, finishing as the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps and not letting his intensity drop at any given point in the tour despite playing all five Tests and sending down more than a thousand deliveries. Like Gill and Jaiswal, Siraj will have to wait for his return to the T20I setup despite having been a regular member of the T20 World Cup-winning XI last year along with the current Test captain, the Cricbuzz report adds.
Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, after all, have formed a successful left-right pace combination in the shortest format with the latter becoming something of a first-choice pacer in quick time. Together with all-rounder Hardik Pandya, that’s three pacers virtually guaranteed in India’s playing XI for the Asia Cup.
In such a scenario, Siraj will be part of a shootout for the third front-line seamer’s spot along with Prasidh Krishna – winner of the Purple Cap earlier this year – and Harshit Rana, who has coach Gambhir’s support in the white-ball formats.
Will Kuldeep finally get some game-time?
Another major talking point in the recent tour of England was left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s continuous absence from the playing XI throughout the tour. Given his ability as a match-winner though, it will be tough for the Indian team management to ignore the 30-year-old Uttar Pradesh spinner for long.
Varun Chakravarthy has proven himself to be indispensable in the white-ball formats, having firmly established himself in the T20I side late last year and also starred in India’s Champions Trophy triumph in March. Together with vice-captain Axar Patel who’s also a handy option with the bat as a floater, the trio make a compelling case for inclusion not just in India’s squad but in the playing XI, along with seamers Bumrah, Arshdeep and Pandya.
According to Cricbuzz, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is also likely to be included, but not off-spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar.
India’s likely Asia Cup squad: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill/Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma/Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel (vc), Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana/Mohammed Siraj/Prasidh Krishna.