The BCCI on Monday announced the Indian men’s squad for Asia Cup. The tournament is all set to begin from August 27, 2022. The Asia Cup is India’s third-to-last T20I assignment before the T20 World Cup starts in Australia in October. They play two home series against Australia and South Africa after the tournament. The most recent Asia Cup took place in 2018 in ODI format. India is the reigning champion.

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Here’s a list of five biggest snubs in India’s squad for the Asia Cup (standbys not included):

1. Ishan Kishan: The Mumbai Indians‘ batter had a stellar series against South Africa, where he scored two half-centuries and finished with 206 runs at an average of 41 to lead the team in most no. of runs. This resulted in him jumping to sixth spot in ICC T20I rankings. He was relatively quiet in the T20 series against Ireland and got playing time of one match in the following England and  West Indies series. In spite of that, he is the second highest ranked Indian in ICC T20 Men’s Rankings at No. 14.

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2. Mohammed Shami: Despite Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel out of the squad due to injuries, Shami was still left out of the squad. However, the bowler last played a T20 in the World Cup and hasn’t played the format since. The right-arm bowler had an excellent IPL season with Gujarat Titans. Although his high economy rate at the end of the innings may have worked against him, he was crucial in scooping up early wickets during the powerplay.

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3. Kuldeep Yadav: Kuldeep Yadav has been a mainstay in the Indian spin department. However, he experienced a loss of form last year. In the just concluded T20I series against West Indies, Kuldeep Yadav returned to the Indian team. Kuldeep Yadav wasn’t included in India’s starting lineup until the fifth T20I, but when he did, he picked up three key wickets in the match. However, there are already two wrist spinners in India’s team for the Asia Cup, which may be the reason Kuldeep Yadav wasn’t selected.

4. Sanju Samson: Sanju Samson has always performed for the Indian team whenever the situation asked for it. He led Rajastham Royals to the final of IPL 2022. In the Ireland series, he got just one chance and scored 77 runs. He didn’t get a chance in the England T20 series. Even in the T20 series against West Indies, he only got to play in the USA leg of the series, despite performing well in the ODI series.

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5. Shikhar Dhawan: The Delhi southpaw had a successful IPL 2022, scoring 400+ runs for the Punjab Kings, and he also performed well in the West Indies ODI series that just ended. Moreover, he led the young ODI team to victory on foreign soil, and will again take up the mantel in the ODI series against Zimbabwe. 

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India Squad: 

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Kartik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan

Standbys:

Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar