While the Asia Cup 2023 is all set to get underway on August 30 with the Pakistan versus Nepal clash in Multan, India will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Pallekele on September 2.

The Men in Blue won’t have the services of wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul for the first two matches due to his fresh niggle, head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed in a press conference on Tuesday (August 29).

In Rahul’s absence, Ishan Kishan will feature in the playing XI as a wicketkeeper-batter. However, it will be interesting to see at what position Kishan bats since Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli occupy the top three spots in the batting order.

Meanwhile, former India selector Kris Srikkanth has opined that India should make a bold call and send Ishan Kishan to open the innings alongside captain Rohit.

"If Ishan Kishan has to be in the XI. He has to open the batting," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

Kishan performed exceptionally well as an opener in the recently held ODI series against West Indies. The southpaw slammed three half-centuries in as many innings and earned the Player-of-the-Series award.

"You are playing against Pakistan. They have some terrific fast bowlers. You have to take your chances. You have give Ishan the license to go out and take the attack to the Pakistan bowlers," Srikkanth said while discussing the Indian team.

"That's why I am saying (for left-right combination), take a bold call and send Ishan Kishan to open the batting. Ask him to attack," he concluded.

It is worth mentioning here that wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson has also travelled with the Indian team as a standby player.

India’s Asia Cup 2023 Squad: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami,

Stand-by Player: Sanju Samson