Iyer and Rahul in the Asia Cup 2023
India’s Asia Cup 2023 roster was more or less in accordance with expectations, save for the omission of one additional specialist spinner, whether it be leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal or the off-spin bowling all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin or Washington Sundar. Despite KL Rahul’s complaint, India decided to play Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, chose Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma for the middle of the order, and favored Kuldeep Yadav over Chahal as the lone specialist spinner.
Iyer and Rahul in the Asia Cup 2023
There was substantial debate about whether Iyer and Rahul should be included on the Asia Cup roster without first demonstrating their match fitness following protracted injury absences, but the Indian team management scarcely had a choice. The Asia Cup was the finest opportunity to gauge Iyer and Rahul’s fitness if they were to be included in the World Cup XI.
A wrong decision in choosing Tilak over Sanju
Another school of thought maintained that choosing SKY and Tilak Varma above Sanju Samson was not the wisest decision, but the selectors made their preferences known in this case as well. They were always going to support Surya for the No. 6 spot, and given Tilak’s performance in the West Indies, he was the best backup option due to his left-handedness. Samson will be going to Sri Lanka as a backup keeper in any scenario.
Two identical spinners
The spin department was the subject of the largest discussion, though. Surprisingly, India only selected three spin bowlers, two of whom are identical—Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel—despite selecting 17 players. The only other wrist spinner was Kuldeep. Axar and Shardul Thakur beat out Chahal as the No. 8 batsmen, according to India captain Rohit Sharma. But in that case, wouldn’t
Washington Sundar or Ravichandran Ashwin have been wiser choices? They are capable of competing at No. 8, but more significantly, they would have offered India another option when it came to selecting an off-spinner.
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The legendary Sunil Gavaskar thinks Ajit Agarkar and his staff made a decent choice with their team. In fact, Gavaskar lost his composure in response to a fan’s question on Ashwin’s exclusion from India’s Asia Cup roster.
