With less than a month before the beginning of the Asia Cup 2023, BCCI will likely announce the squad for the big event by August 17. As Pakistan announced the squad for the continental event on August 11, there is high anticipation for the announcement by the Indian cricket board.
Rohit Opens on India’s Asia Cup Squad Selection
The Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2023 is yet to be announced by BCCI which is scheduled to begin on August 30 and co-host by Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Many new players have made their international debut in the Indian team. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been away from the T20 format since the semi-finals against England in World Cup 2022. Notably, the duo have been sidelined from the ODI and T20I format in the ongoing series against West Indies.
Asia Cup will be the next big event India will be featuring in nearby future, where the skipper Rohit Sharma opens on the possible squad selection for the event. Rohit thinks that there will be pressure on players in the Asia Cup for World Cup 2023 spots.
The Asia Cup 2023 will be featuring an arch-rivals match between India and Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The tournament consists of four matches hosted by Pakistan and the other nine matches will be taking place in Sri Lanka.
Rohit Sharma does not want the Indian squad to rely on individuals on batting and wants to see how the players will react to pressure in the next Asia Cup.
“We will see, we want to win but at the same time, there are a lot of questions that we need answers to. But in the Asia Cup, I want to see some of the guys batting under pressure against quality teams,” told Rohit Sharma.
“I still want to see those things, so we will wait and see what happens, but it is always nice to have a lot of names, rather than just one or two names. I hope they are fit in time – firstly that is the most important.”
Rohit said no one, including himself is an automatic selection for the competition and the Asia Cup selection meeting will take place in a few days.
“We have got a lot of names there. We will see what is the right combination for us to go in the World Cup but before [that] we have the Asia Cup,” he added.
Rohit believes that Asia Cup will be a great challenge for the Indian team, which they will be working in batting lineups and team combinations.
“No one is an automatic (selection), even I am not. We have this thing where nobody is guaranteed a spot. We cannot say that ‘you are thereafter all’ or things like that.
Yes, some players know that they are going to play but at this point in time, playing three ODIs in the West Indies was a good opportunity to look at a few guys. In the Asia Cup, again, we will face good opposition,” he added.
The first match of the Asia Cup 2023 will be played between Pakistan and Nepal on August 30 at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan. We have listed the Asia Cup 2023 live streaming details for the global fans while also listing the Asia Cup 2023 tickets booking links in a separate post.