KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer make a comeback in the India squad for the 2023 Asia Cup.

NEW DELHI: The BCCI declared India’s 17-member ODI squad for the Asia Cup on Monday, as batsmen KL Rahul & Shreyas Iyer made a comeback from injury, while Jasprit Bumrah also made a comeback to the 50-over format after proving his fitness in the ongoing T20I series in Ireland, where he is leading the Indian team.

The squad, which also reflects the make-up of the Indian team for the ODI World Cup later this year, was announced after the selection committee meeting headed by the chief selector Ajit Agarkar in Delhi.

Agarkar and India captain Rohit Sharma then officially announced the team, followed by a press conference.

Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna also found a place in the squad, with Sanju Samson as the back-up player.

“It is not the original injury. There is a niggle. That is why Sanju is travelling (to Sri Lanka). We are expecting Rahul to be fit. If not the start of Asia cup may be by the second or the third game. Shreyas Iyer is fully fit,” said chief selector Agarkar.

The Asia Cup begins on August 30 with the match between Pakistan and Nepal in Multan. India will play all their matches in Sri Lanka, beginning with the game against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy. While India, Pakistan and Nepal are part of Group A, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan form the more competitive Group B. The top two teams from each of the group will progress to the ‘Super 4’ stage.

In total, the tournament will have 13 matches, with four to be hosted by Pakistan and nine in Sri Lanka. The final is scheduled for September 17 in Colombo.

India squad for Asia Cup:
★Rohit Sharma (c)
★Shubman Gill
★Virat Kohli
★Shreyas Iyer
★KL Rahul
★Hardik Pandya
★Ravindra Jadeja
★Jasprit Bumrah
★Kuldeep Yadav
★Mohammed Siraj
★Mohammed Shami
★Ishan Kishan
★Shardul Thakur
★Axar Patel
★Suryakumar Yadav
★Tilak Varma
★Prasidh Krishna

Full schedule:
Group stage:
★August 30: Pakistan vs Nepal, Multan
★August 31: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Kandy
★September 2: India vs Pakistan, Kandy
★September 3: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Lahore
★September 4: India vs Nepal, Kandy
★September 5: Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Lahore

Super 4s stage:
★September 6: A1 vs B2, Lahore
★September 9: B1 vs B2, Colombo
★September 10: A1 vs A2, Colombo
★September 12: A2 vs B1, Colombo
★September 14: A1 vs B1, Colombo
★September 15: A2 vs B2, Colombo
★September 17: Final, Colombo

More to follow…