The successful Caribbean tour has come to an end and now the focus shifts to the forthcoming Zimbabwe tour and the Asia Cup.
The prestigious Asia Cup 2022 is less than three weeks away, and former cricketer turned analyst Aakash Chopra has named his 15-man India squad for the event.
Openers
Chopra named Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as the openers, given the latter is fully fit to participate.
Chopra didn’t include any backup opener. He further slammed the management for ignoring Ishan Kishan.
He said, “They opened with Ishan right after the IPL but ignored him for the recent series when you are nearing the selection.”
Middle Order
He picked Virat Kohli for the no.3 spot. Suryakumar Yadav for No.4 and Hardik Pandya the two.
He had to scratch his head for
Chopra further named Deepak Hooda ahead of Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson.
He said, “I feel that only one player out of Hooda, Samson or Iyer, would be in the squad as the additional batter, but I feel it’s Hooda due to his bowling abilities.”
Spinners
Chopra included Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin as three spinners.
Seamers
Chopra went with Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami as his four-seamers.
It is worth noting that Shami last played a T20I match on November 8, 2021.
Chopra added that if Harshal Patel is fit, he would replace Arshdeep Singh and named Axar Patel as the 16th player.
Aakash Chopra’s Indian squad for the Asia Cup
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Dinesh Karthik