BCCI to announce Asia Cup squad today; Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill in contention

MUMBAI: The Senior Men’s Selection Committee will meet at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai on Tuesday to pick India’s squad for the upcoming ACC Men’s Asia Cup.

The selection meeting will be followed by a press conference, which will be attended by the captain Suryakumar Yadav and the Chairman of the Senior Men’s Selection Committee, Ajit Agarkar, from 1:30 pm onwards.

Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Tilak Varma are likely to be the top three for the Men in Blue, along with captain Suryakumar Yadav at number 4.

There are speculations that Test captain Shubman Gill could be selected in the team as the vice-captain after showing his leadership skills on the England tour.

Players like Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, and Washington Sundar are also in the selection race. Jitesh Sharma and Yashavi Jaiswal are likely to be included as the backup wicketkeeper and opener, respectively, in the squad.

Right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah has made himself available for the tournament. He will probably lead the bowling unit along with other fast bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Harshit Rana.

The spinners who are likely to be picked in the squad are Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Ravi Bishnoi.

The Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from September 9 to 28.

The ACC released a statement confirming the venues for all tournament fixtures. The tournament will follow the T20I format and feature eight teams: five full members of the Asian Cricket Council (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), along with the UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong.

India, Pakistan, UAE and Oman are in Group A, while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong are in Group B. Although India is the formal tournament host, a neutral venue will be provided for the opposing team for three years for competitions held in India or Pakistan, according to an agreement between the BCCI and the PCB.

During the tournament, Dubai will host 11 matches, and Abu Dhabi will be the home ground for eight fixtures. The tournament opener is placed between Afghanistan and Hong Kong on September 9 in Abu Dhabi.

India will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10, while the high-voltage game against Pakistan is scheduled for the 14th, with both fixtures set to be played in Dubai. India will play their final group stage fixture against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.

After the group stage, the tournament will proceed to the Super 4, where the top two teams from each group will qualify. If India finishes at the top of Group A, then all of their Super 4 matches will be held in Dubai. If India finishes second, then one of their Super 4 clashes will be held in Abu Dhabi and the remaining two in Dubai. The Super 4 stage will run from September 20 to 26. Dubai will host the final, which is scheduled for September 28. (ANI)