Ready to lead India’s men’s cricket team in their pursuit of Asian Games glory is Ruturaj Gaikwad
Indian teams for both the men’s and women’s competitions at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou have been made public.
The women’s cricket portion of the Olympics will employ Twenty20, the shortest international format, and will last 10 days from September 19 to September 28. The games will be held at Zhejiang University of Technology’s Pingfeng Cricket Field.
Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead the men’s Indian squad in the upcoming T20 Asian Games tournament. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, and Jitesh Sharma, who have all yet to play in a T20 international match, are also included in the 15-man team.
Two days after the Asian Games cricket tournament ends, on October 5, the men’s ODI World Cup will get underway in India. The BCCI, on the other hand, has chosen a women’s team that is completely ready for the match in Hangzhou.
From the T20I team for the Caribbean and USA tour, just six players—Jaiswal, Tilak, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan—were selected for the Asian Games roster.
This was important since it was Rinku’s maiden call-up to the Indian squad, a batter from Uttar Pradesh who had dominated the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders with his power and finishing skills. Despite not being chosen for the T20I matches in the Caribbean and the United States, Jitesh, a finisher for Vidarbha and Punjab Kings, was still a member of the team. Washington Sundar, an all-around performer, and Rahul Tripathi, a Sunrisers Hyderabad colleague, will get another opportunity to show off their T20 format skills.
In February of this year, both players took part in a local T20I series against New Zealand, but they were left off the team for the subsequent T20Is against the West Indies. They have lately participated in T20 events such as the MPL (Maharashtra Premier League), TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League), and other T20 competitions.
Prithvi Shaw, who had been chosen for the West Zone squad for the Deodhar Trophy and would be going to the UK to play for Northamptonshire following, was unable to join them.
Washington and Bishnoi will join Royal Challengers Bangalore and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed of Bengal in the spin assault. Despite not bowled a single ball for the Chennai Super Kings during the IPL 2023, Shivam Dube is the team’s lone seam bowling all-rounder.
Dube continued to play in the IPL playoffs despite suffering a finger injury while playing defence against the Mumbai Indians in May. He has now completely healed to the point where he may be selected for both this team and the West Zone squad for the Deodhar Trophy.
B and Venkatesh Iyer were both on the list of reserves, however neither were chosen for the Asian Games team. In the IPL final of 2023, Sai Sudharsan created news by hitting 96 runs for Gujarat Titans against CSK in just 47 balls. Another reserve athlete was R Sai Kishore, a seasoned net bowler for the Indian teams. Following Jitesh, Punjabi goalie Prabhsimran Singh was selected as the back-up.
Cricket was a part of the Asian Games twice, in 2010 and 2014, although India was not present for either events. The T20 format will be used for the cricket competition in Hangzhou as it was for the competitions in 2010 and 2014. Men’s cricket at the Asian Games will be played from September 28 to October 8.
The Indian team for the Asian Games:
Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, and Prabhsimran Singh (wk), among others, are the captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, and Jitesh Sharma are the wicketkeepers.
Continuity Players:
Yash Thakur, B Sai Sudharsan, Venkatesh Iyer, R Sai Kishore, and Deepak Hooda
