The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday confirmed team India’s participation in the upcoming Asian Games 2023 following the conclusion of the 19th Apex Council Meeting. Team India is set to have its maiden stint at the event which is scheduled to be held in China, however, without the regular key players.
As things unfolded, it has been learnt that the BCCI is unwilling to send regular members of the Indian team to China for the Asian Games 2023. The decision has been taken in the wake of an overlap in the schedules of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and the Asian Games 2023.
While the Asian Games are set to be held in September-October in China’s Hangzhou, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is scheduled to be held in October-November in India.
The World Cup event, which is arguably the best international tournament that happens every four years, will be prioritised by the Indian cricket board. Therefore a second-string Indian squad will be announced to take part in the Asian Games 2023.
This effectively means that India’s maiden stint in the Asian games will be without the services of captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Siraj and Shami among others.
India’s T20 Squad for Asian Games will be picked keeping aside the regular 18 players (15-men World Cup Squad plus three reserves) of the Indian team.
Notably, both men and women squads of Team India will take part in the Asian Games. While the men’s squad will feature a string of fresh players, a full-strength woman’s squad is expected to head to China. The women’s team will be led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and her deputy Smriti Mandhana.
No Rohit, No Virat in India’s T20 Squad for Asian Games 2023
“BCCI will send both men’s and women’s teams to the Asian Games scheduled to be held in September 2023 at Hangzhou, China. However, considering the overlap of schedule of the Asian Games with ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, BCCI will select from the players not participating in the World Cup to play in the Asian Games,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said after the 19th Apex Council meeting that took place in Mumbai on Friday.
Seasoned batter Shikhar Dhawan is likely to spearhead the second-string Indian side for the China event, as he is no longer in contention for the World Cup place. Besides Dhawan, the likes of Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh and Mukesh Kumar will be in the fray to get named in the squad.
Moreover, the BCCI will have the choice between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal to pick for the Asian Games as there is no way both can feature in the World Cup 2023 squad at the same time.
India’s T20 Squad for Asian Games 2023– Prediction
Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad/Yashasvi Jaiswal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Akash Madhwal, Tushar Deshpande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
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For more details head to BCCI’s official website.