Indian senior batter Shikhar Dhawan is likely to lead the Indian cricket team at Asian Games 2023 while the Head of Cricket at the NCA, VVS Laxman is expected to play the coaching role.
Dhawan to Lead India in Asian Games 2023
According to a report, there are indications that Shikhar Dhawan may make a comeback as the captain of the India ‘B’ team at the Asian Games, while the main team focuses on World Cup preparations.
The BCCI is going to take the decision over the Asian Games squad on July 7 when the Annual General Meeting takes place. The Asian Games is scheduled to stage from September 23-October 8, 2023.
As the dates of the Asian Games 2023 clashes with the ICC World Cup 2023, BCCI decides to send the India B team under Dhawan to feature in the Asia Games 2023.
Dhawan has a fantastic record in multi-nation tournaments, having scored 537 runs in 10 innings in the ICC ODI World Cup. Dhawan holds the record for the highest run-scorer for India in their victorious ICC Champions Trophy 2013. Dhawan averages 44.11 with 17 centuries and 39 half-centuries in 163 ODI innings.
The rise of Shubman Gill in the Indian ODI squad pushed Dhawan out of the squad in recent outings. Dhawan played his last ODI match on December 10, 2022 against Bangladesh where he scored just 3 runs.
It is worth mentioning that, Indian wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan scored his maiden double hundred in the same match where India won the game by massive 227 runs.
However, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper has led India in 12 matches in the past and won 7 matches. Dhawan was named India’s captain for the first time in the ODI and T20I matches against Sri Lanka in June 2021.
Cricket was last staged in the Asian Games in the 2014 edition in Incheon. In Jakarta 2018, cricket was dropped from the roster. Indian teams had not taken part in that competition nine years ago.
The Indian Women’s team previously finished as runners-up in the Commonwealth Games 2022, narrowly losing the Gold medal to Australia in the final by 9 runs.
BCCI will send the main women’s team, and the Men’s B team side to Hangzhou for the mega event.
