The forthcoming edition of the Asia Cup 2023 tournament is less than two weeks away from getting underway. The five full members of the Asian Cricket Council who will take part in the tourney are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Notably, Nepal will be making its ACC Asia Cup debut for the first time.
They have made it here for the first time after qualifying for the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup. For the record, Pakistan was granted to host the Asia Cup 2023. Nevertheless, the BCCI was unwilling to send its players to Pakistan to take part in the tournament.
However, after giving it deep thought, the BCCI decided to play in a hybrid system where India will play all their games in another nation whereas a few other matches will be hosted in Pakistan. Interestingly, Asia Cup will be co-hosted by multiple nations for the first time. In fact, four games will be played in Pakistan whereas the remaining nine games will be played in Sri Lanka.
India planning to include Ravichandran Ashwin in Asia Cup and World Cup squads
Meanwhile, if reports doing the rounds are to be believed, Team India are likely to include veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in Asia Cup and World Cup squads. Ravichandran Ashwin was a member of the ICC ODI World Cup winning squad in the 2011 edition.
He was also a member of the ICC Champions Trophy winning squad in the 2013 edition. Ravi Ashwin possesses a truckload of cricketing experience under his belt. It seems that the selectors want to include an experienced player like Ashwin in the upcoming marquee events. As per a report from PTI, Ravi Ashwin is already part of the plans for the upcoming Asia Cup tournament.
India's likely 17 member squad for Asia Cup. [PTI]
Rohit, Gill, Kohli, Rahul, Iyer, Hardik, Jadeja, Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Ishan, Kuldeep, Axar, Thakur, Surya, Tilak, Chahal/Ashwin.
Rahul & Iyer – Subject to fitness. pic.twitter.com/wxdtByui0e
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 19, 2023
Ravichandran Ashwin was recently seen in cricketing action during the two-match Test series against the West Indies cricket team. He is a regular feature for India in the longest format. On the contrary, his last ODI appearance came against South Africa in 2022 whereas his last T20I appearance came against England in 2022.
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Ashwin played 113 ODIs for India wherein he accounted for 151 dismissals including 1 four-wicket haul. He also scored a half-century in this format whereas he took 72 wickets in 65 T20Is including 2 four-wicket hauls.