Team India’s unpredictable defeat against the West Indies in the last T20 series has left the Indian side on a backfoot and might lead to some significant changes in the Asia Cup squad.
 Indian WK batsman Sanju Samson had a poor performance in the series against the Caribbean side where he only managed to score only 32 runs in three games.
According to the Times of India, the 28-year-old might be excluded from the 15-man squad for the upcoming Asia Cup to be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
TOI also stated that the squad is likely to be announced on August 20 (Sunday).
The Asia Cup event is set to start in Multan on August 30, Rohit Sharma’s team India will start their tournament against their arch-rivals Pakistan on September 2.
TOI stated that the BCCI selectors would only pick the Asia Cup squad for now whereas, the ODI World Cup squad would be picked later.
The deadline from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to submit the World Cup squad is in September.
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju, had a decent performance in the ODI series against West Indies he scored a half-century in one of the games. He has an average of 55.71 in 13 games.
His chances of inclusion are slightly low as the experienced KL Rahul is set to make his comeback in the team. KL suffered a thigh injury during the IPL 2024 and has recovered from it.
In a recent video posted by Rishabh Pant on his Instagram handle, Rahul was seen batting at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) where he appeared to be fully fit.
Young Ishan Kishan also stands a chance in the race for Wicket-keeper as he had proved himself with a decent performance in the ODI and T20 series against West Indies.
India’s tall fast bowler Prasidh Krishna could also join Jasprit Bumrahin in the team for the upcoming event. Krishna last played for team India against Zimbabwe at Harare in August 2022.
Later the pacer was excluded due to a stress fracture on the back.
A source also told TOI that Krishna could give a dimension to the attacking side as the 27-year-old can generate pace and bounce in his bowling.
It would be great if the BCCI selectors would get a chance to watch Bumrah and Krishna bowl in their series against Ireland.
Other teams participating in the event have announced their teams, while the Indian Board (BCCI) is utilizing enough time to get an idea about the fitness of the players.
Star Sports Experts panel picks India’s squad for Asia Cup:
Rohit-led team India will be eyeing to grab the Asia Cup title, the limelight will undoubtedly be on teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
According to the expert panel of Star Sports, the top batting order include the skipper Rohit himself, alongside Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan who would also handle the role of wicketkeeping.
There is no room for star Indian players like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. surprising many they have also excluded the middle-order expert Iyer.
Heading towards the middle-order the expert panel have gone with the young gun Tilak Verma and Suryakumar Yadav. Despite their loss in the T20 series, these two batsmen have stood strong with their impressive batting skills.
The all-rounder section includes experienced players Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur.
The bowling section includes the famous “ Kul-Cha’ spin duo i.e. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal accompanied by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Mohammed Shami.
The men in blues will be eyeing to dominate the Asia Cup adding the 8th one on the winners list.
