Indian batsmen Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have been recalled to the Twenty20 squad for the Asian Cup but Sear Jasprit Bumrah has been left out through injury, the country’s cricket governing body, BCCI, said on Monday.
Former captain Kohli and Bumrah have been dropped from the T20 squad for the five-game series against West Indies, which India won 4-1 on Sunday.
Kohli has come through meager form in all formats and the 33-year-old has been without a century in international cricket since November 2019.
Rahul returns to the squad after a lengthy layoff following a groin injury and a COVID-19 diagnosis. He becomes Rohit Sharma’s deputy.
Harshal Patel is also out through injury, while Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as substitutes.
India are the defending champions of the Asian Cup, which will be played from August 27th to September 27th. 11 in the United Arab Emirates. They will open their campaign against arch-rivals and neighbors Pakistan in a blockbuster duel on Sunday.
The tournament, which is serving as preparation for the Asian teams ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year, was moved to the UAE last month due to the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka, retaining the honor of hosting.
Squad India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh khan