The BCCI in its second big announcement released the list of Indian men's player who will be going to Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games 2023. Chennai Super Kings and Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad will be leading the second-string sides which saw Rinku Singh and Prabhsimran Singh get maiden call-ups into the Indian team with Jitesh Sharma and Washington Sundar being recalled.
All the young stars of IPL, who made their name in the 2023 edition or in some cases, a few seasons, saw their names on the team sheet as the players who will be in the World Cup squad and a few who are in contention were not looked at. It will be the first captaincy experience at the highest level for Gaikwad, who has led his domestic side Maharashtra in the past.
Gaikwad will have Yashasvi Jaiswal as his opening partner with Rahul Tripathi returning to the side. Tilak Varma has retained his place from the West Indies T20Is while the likes of Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed and Shivam Mavi have all returned.
Apart from Rinku, another Indian batter who impressed in the middle-order with his intent and temperament, the most was the Punjab Kings wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma. Jitesh after being overlooked for the West Indies series, has returned to the T20 side for the Asian Games. Another player to get a call-up after a long time is Shivam Dube, who impressed one and all with his clean ball striking and ability to hit sixes at will, playing for the Chennai Super Kings.
The men's T20 competition will be held from September 28 to October 8.
Team India squad for Asian Games: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
Standby list of players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan.
