The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the All India Selection Comittee has today announced the Indian cricket team squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. Vice-captain KL Rahul makes his return after missing a couple series’. However, there is still some notable absentees from the squad who have been a major part of the Indian T20I setup over the years.
The Indian cricket team’s squad for the Asia Cup 2022, which will act as a preparotory tournament for India’s build-up to the T20 World Cup in Australia, is as follows:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul(VC), Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
With that, while the squad is satisfactory for the Indian fans, there are still some major absentees from the squad who were a part of the T20I setup over the years.
Today in this article, we take a look at 5 major absentees from Team India’s squad for Asia Cup 2022. Note that Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel both have been excluded from the squad because of injury.
Shreyas Iyer
Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer is the first name and a major one to be missing from the Indian team’s squad. While Shreyas is Team India’s highest run scorer in T20I this year so far, he has seen a downfall in form after the IPL 2022. He was even made to sit the 4th T20I against West Indies but then made a great comeback in opening position, scoring 64 runs. While he is not part of the main squad, he will be travelling with the team as a standby player.
Axar Patel
All-rounder Axar Patel who impressed everyone with his performance in the recently concluded series against West Indies is another big name missing. Patel was equally good with both bat and ball in the series and made the most of the opportunity. He has been in and out of the team several times. Just like Shreyas Iyer, he is also selected as a standby player for the tournament.
Deepak Chahar
Star pace bowler Deepak Chahar is another one missing from the squad, but it is a case of understandable. Chahar has not played any competitive cricket since before the IPL after suffering an injury prior to the IPL 2022. It was never expected that Chahar would be a part of the main squad for Asia Cup, but that also means that he doesn’t get to audition for the T20 World Cup. However, like the above two, Deepak Chahar has also been picked as a standby player for the tournament.
Sanju Samson
While the above mentioned names are not part of the main squad but will still be travelling to UAE, but, the remaining have neither been picked in the main team, nor as the backup. And the first name is none other than fan favourite Sanju Samson. With the emergence of Dinesh Karthik, it meant that the door was closed for Sanju Samson. Even though he impressed in the given opportunities, it was just not enough to make it to squad.
Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan was played as the first choice opener in the T20Is by the Indian team in absence of vice-captain KL Rahul. But, with Rahul back in the team, there was no place for Ishan Kishan. And to further add to the injury, Team India have been trying out Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav both as opening batter in the last few series’. Ishan however, did impressed in the South Africa series after IPL, but has been unimpressive thereafter.
