BCCI recently announced the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup. India played a lot of T20I games recently but some of the players who were part of these matches will not play in the Asia Cup. This is because of the return of some established names for the event. On that note, here, we take a look at three players unlucky to miss out on the Indian squad for Asia Cup 2022.
1) Shreyas Iyer
Barring the fifty in the last T20I against West Indies, Iyer had last got a T20I fifty way back in February. In between, he played a lot of games but was not able to turn up in good form. Meanwhile, some of the other batters strengthened their spot in the squad.
While dropping Iyer to the standby list was expected, considering the Asia Cup is in UAE, Iyer could have actually been considered. The Mumbai cricketer is a good player of spin and would have been handy against good spin attacks such as Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
2) Axar Patel
Axar Patel is one of the players unlucky to miss out on the Indian squad for Asia Cup 2022. The Gujarat all-rounder has been Ravindra Jadeja’s back up for a while now. However, in recent months, Axar has done well in both departments and hence, he was seen as good competition for Jadeja.
That said, India is likely to play two genuine spinners in the XI for the Asia Cup. In this scenario, a batting all-rounder is more preferred than a player like Axar, who offers more with the ball. Therefore, Axar might have not been included. However, he will consider himself unlucky, especially after the recent performances.
Notes –
Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru.Three players – Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 8, 2022
3) Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan is the second highest ranked Indian T20I batter after Suryakumar Yadav. Yet, he has been sidelined for the Asia Cup. Not just for the upcoming event but Ishan would see himself as unlucky in recent tournaments, as well.
He was always groomed as the reserve opener, who could take over the duties in a couple of years. However, despite his presence in the squad, the management made use of Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav as openers. Now, Ishan has altogether been dropped, which could be considered harsh from the player’s perspective.
