As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a strong 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 on Monday, cricketer KL Rahul mad a comeback to the Indian team.
Soon after the squad was announced, several users took to their social media handles and shared their reactions.
KL Rahul’s brother-in-law and actor Ahan Shetty also shared his reaction.
Taking to Instagram, Ahan shared a post on his stories and captioned it with a nazar amulet emoticon.
Team India chief selector Ajit Agarkar said on Monday that KL Rahul is having a niggle and is expected to recover by the second or third game of the Asia Cup.
“Shreyas Iyer has been declared fully fit. It is great news. KL Rahul is carrying a niggle. But we expect him to get fit by the second or third game of the Asia Cup. These two are extremely important players for us,” Agarkar said.
The 2023 Asia Cup will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka with the tournament running from August 30 to September 17.
Asia Cup will serve as an important benchmark for India’s preparations for the World Cup starting in October and will also help selectors make choices for the marquee event.
India will open their Asia Cup campaign with an iconic clash against Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been appointed Rohit Sharma’s deputy in Asia Cup 2023.
The squad also marks the return of Jasprit Bumrah to ODI cricket after a gap of more than one year. After proving his fitness in the ongoing T20I series against Ireland, Bumrah is set to test himself in the 50-over format heading into the World Cup. India’s pace attack will be boosted by the return of Mohammed Siraj, who was not in the team for some time due to a sore ankle.
Tilak Varma made it to India’s Asia Cup squad on the back of his strong performance against West Indies during the tour that ended this month.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.