The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced the Indian Men’s Squad for the upcoming 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 (Asian Games 2023).
The Asian Games 2023 will be played in China from September 23 to October 8. The men’s cricket event at the Asian Games 2023, to be played in the T20 format, will take place from September 28 to October 8. All the matches will be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.
With the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup starting in India on October 5, India will be fielding largely a second-string side at the Hangzhou Games without first team-regulars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others.
Also Check: India Men’s Cricket Team for Asian Games 2023
Chennai Super Kings’ star opener Ruturaj Gaikwad will be leading the young Indian squad in the Asian Games 2023. Gaikwad has been making headlines constantly with his extraordinary batting both in domestic cricket and Indian Premier League. He has been one of the most consistent run-getters in the IPL for CSK, getting the Orange Cap in 2021 and continued his performance this season as CSK won the title, beating Gujarat Titans in the final.
Rinku Singh who had a great IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders last season also earned his maiden call-up for the National team. The board has added two wicket-keepers to the team – Jitesh Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh have also earned their spot.
Another notable name in the squad list is Yashasvi Jaiswal, the Rajasthan Royals batter who has risen to prominence after the last IPL season.
Other notable players who have been around the national setup for some time include Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, and Ravi Bishnoi.
Cricket has been played at the Asian Games twice before – at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014, when India did not take part. Bangladesh won the first edition while Sri Lanka are the defending champions. Afghanistan were runners-up on both occasions. The BCCI Apex Council cleared the participation of men and women teams earlier this month.
This is the second time the men’s cricket team will play in a multi-sport event. The Indian men’s cricket team played at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in a 50-over format. The matches, however, were not accorded international status and were recorded as List A games.
India Squad for Asian Games: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube and Prabhsimran Singh (wk).
Standby Players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda and Sai Sudarsan.