After the ongoing West Indies tour, Team India will travel to Zimbabwe for three ODIs, where Shikhar Dhawan will lead the side as regular skipper Rohit Sharma has been rested while first-choice vice-captain KL Rahul missed out on selection due to post COVID-19 infection recovery.
Following the Zimbabwe tour, India’s next assignment will be the Asia Cup 2022, slated to be held in the UAE from August 27 to September 11.
For the multi-nation tournament, Rahul is expected to reclaim his place back in the national side along with seamer Deepak Chahar when the squad will be picked on August 8.
Rahul was all set for a comeback in the ODI series against Zimbabwe but he caught COVID-19, which delayed his recovery from the sports hernia surgery he underwent recently.
While Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav have opened the innings alongside Rohit Sharma in the last six T20Is for India, a PTI report claims that Rahul will get back his place at the top.
"KL Rahul doesn't need to prove anything. He is a class player. Whenever he plays T20, it is always as a specialist opener and that would continue. Surya and Rishabh are set to play as specialist middle-order batters going forward," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
With veteran batter Virat Kohli enduring an extended lean patch, questions are now being raised over his place in the Indian team. However, the report suggests that there is no threat to his No. 3 slot.
“There has been no specific discussions on Kohli's future in the shortest format and even if he doesn't have a great Asia Cup, his years of experience and match-winning ability will be difficult to ignore for the marquee event in Australia where experience always rules the roost,” the PTI report stated.
In the bowling unit, Deepak Chahar, who will return to the Indian team in the ODI series against Zimbabwe after an injury hiatus, is likely to be a part of the Asia Cup-bound squad.
"Deepak was one of India's consistent T20 bowlers before he got injured. He deserves a fair chance and also we need a like-for-like back-up for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Also now that he is coming back, he would need to play a lot of games to get his rhythm back," the source added.
As per the report, Harshal Patel is down with a rib-cage injury and his inclusion in the squad will be subject to fitness.
For the spinner’s slots, seasoned campaigner R Ashwin is likely to get a nod alongside Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal and Akshar Patel.
India will open their Asia Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on August 28 in Dubai.
Asia Cup Squad (In Contention)
Certainties (13): Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Back-Up batter: Deepak Hooda/Ishan Kishan/Sanju Samson
Back-Up Pacers: Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan/Deepak Chahar/Harshal Patel.
Back-Up Spinners: Akshar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav/Ravi Bishnoi.
(With PTI inputs)
