During a press conference, the chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Indian team captain Rohit Sharma introduced a 17-player squad for the Asia Cup 2023. Within the same briefing, it was revealed that KL Rahul has encountered a minor injury, potentially rendering him unavailable for the initial matches of the tournament.
As a result, the opportunity for the fifth batting position and the wicketkeeper-batsman role has opened up. Unfortunately, Sanju Samson, who is a backup option, cannot replace KL Rahul. Consequently, India will need to choose Ishan Kishan in the starting lineup. Kishan, who primarily occupies an upper-order batting role, will necessitate a series of adjustments in India’s batting order.
Projected batting combinations consist of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill forming the opening duo, with Ishan Kishan designated to assume the third batting slot instead of Virat Kohli. Kohli, the well-established Indian cricketer, is anticipated to take up the fourth position, followed by Shreyas Iyer at number five. Hardik Pandya is poised to occupy the sixth spot in the batting order, followed by Ravindra Jadeja at number seven.
Also read: Shreyas Iyer to Bat at Number 5 for India in Asia Cup 2023- Report
Is this the right choice for India? Is this truly a strategy that Team India is seriously considering? All these questions will receive their answers on September 2, 2023, when India goes head-to-head against their arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Traveling stand-by player: Sanju Samson