Ruturaj Gaikwad new captain for Asian Games, door close for Shikhar Dhawan

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will send both men’s and women’s teams to compete in Continental Games. The cricket tournament will commence from 19 September to 7 October. Ruturaj Gaikwad new captain for Asian Games, door close for Shikhar Dhawan.

The BCCI on Friday announced Team India’s squad for the upcoming for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022. Ruturaj Gaikwad will be leading the 15-man squad for the event to be held from September 19 to October 8, 2023, at Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.  Ruturaj Gaikwad was captain of the men’s squad for the Hangzhou Asian Games with IPL star Rinku Singh also getting his due.

Rinku, whose exclusion from the T20I series in the Caribbean was questioned, has made the cut for the Asian Games scheduled from September 23 to October 8. The continental games coincide with the start of the ODI World Cup and that is why a B team has been named. Shivam Dube, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma and Prabhsimran Singh are the others who have been picked at the back of a stellar IPL.

It was a coming of age season for Dube who helped CSK win a record equalling fifth title. Jaiswal scored a hundred on his Test debut against the West Indies on Thursday before going on to become only the third Indian to score 150 in his first game for India. Tilak has also been named in the team which will face the West Indies in a five-match series from August 3.

Former India captain and coach Ani Kumble feels that the selected players are out of ODI World Cup contention (which begins on October 5) at least for now. “I think in the starting line-up yeah. There’s still time from now till October so anything can happen. If there is any injury concern or any niggle I am sure players can be pulled in from the squad into the World Cup. I don’t think anything is written in stone. At least for now these set of players won’t be available for the World Cup because both are clashing,” Anil Kumble said on Jio Cinema.

BCCI has announced the squad for the Asian tournament under the leadership of Rituraj Gaikwad. Which everyone expected to be led by Shikhar Dhawan. Selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar has decided to send young players to this tournament. Dhawan has been away from ODI cricket since 2022 and is unlikely to feature in the upcoming Asia Cup and ODI World Cup.

Yet BCCI is paying him 1 crore annually. Dhawan has been included in Group C in BCCA’s annual contract. But, given the current situation, he doesn’t get a chance and why is BCCI paying him anyway? Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill scored double centuries in ODI cricket. After that, Shikhar Dhawan was seen out of the ODI team..

With Gill securing the opening position in the team, there is very little chance of Dhawan getting a chance in the Asia Cup or the World Cup. Moreover, India has talented young players in Twenty20 cricket as well. That is why Agarkar felt it was right to select only young players for the Asian tournament.

Asian Games 2023 Team India Men Squad: 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, Prabhsimran Singh (wk).

Standby list of players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan

Asian Games 2023 Team India Women Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy.

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