Virat Kohli was rested as BCCI named 16-member Indian team for Asia Cup 2018 which will be contested in United Arab Emirates. Rohit Sharma will lead the team in the absence of Virat.
Inclusions
Rajasthan’s budding left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed was a surprise inclusion in the team. Ahmed, 20, had featured for India U-19 team of 2016, captained by Ishan Kishan which lost to West Indies in the final in Bangladesh. Ahmed has also represented Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 11th edition of Indian Premier League.
Kedar Jadhav, who sustained a hamstring injury in the inaugural match of IPL 11 playing for Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians was also named in the team.
Ambati Rayudu was also included in the 16-member Indian squad. Rewarding his successful run for CSK in IPL 11, Rayudu was named in the Indian squad for England tour but he failed to make it to the team after failing the YoYo test.
Asia Cup is scheduled to start from September 15 in Dubai. India will open their campaign against Bangladesh on the same date.
Indian squad for Asia Cup 2018
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), K L Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed
