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What's the news?
BCCI announced the Indian squad for Asia Cup to be played in the United Arab Emirates. The selection panel put out a list of 16 players for the tournament which is set to start in two weeks time.
The notable absentee from the squad was the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli and the Indian contingent in the continental tournament will be led by Rohit Sharma. Rohit's opening partner Shikhar Dhawan will be his deputy during the tournament.
While Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Amabati Rayudu, and Axar Patel made their way back into the side, Khaleel Ahmed, a 20-year old from Rajasthan, got his maiden national call-up. On the other hand, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer, Umesh Yadav and Siddarth Kaul were dropped from the side.
Indian squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Y Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed
In case you didn't know:
Virat Kohli suffered a back injury during the second Test match at Lords and did not take the field on Day 3 for some time. The Indian captain addressed the issue after his team's loss to England in the second Test.
"Yesterday and today, it wasn't great. The back can be very tricky when it goes off. It happened in the latter half of the last leg of the South Africa tour when I missed a T20 game. That was very sudden, it happened a day before the game."
Heart of the matter
The back injury that Kohli has been suffering from is not a new one and has resurfaced quite a few times recently. Being the captain of the Indian side in all three formats, Virat Kohli has played almost every game for the nation putting a lot of stress on his body.
The strain doesn't come as a surprise as Virat Kohli, being a high-intensity player on the field, is willing to contribute to the team's success in every possible way. The rest might help Virat Kohli recuperate completely from the injury so that he will not miss any crucial encounters in the future.
Final say
Virat Kohli is a key member of the team and his performance will be key India's success in the World Cup next year. The decision taken by the selection panel might have been made keeping in my the physical needs of the captain so that he can give his best whenever he is on the field.
Resting Virat Kohli will open up opportunities for players like Manish Pandey, Ambati Rayudu, Kedhar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik to cement their place in the middle order before the World Cup. The Indian squad still remains a strong unit even without their regular captain and under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, the team will look to win the tournament.
Twitter reactions to India's squad for Asia Cup
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