Highlights
- India will take on Pakistan in the first match of the Asia Cup
- After the Asia Cup, India will play home series against South Africa and Australia
- Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, both return for India's Asia Cup campaign
The Indian cricket team has constantly been on the road after the Indian Premier League which concluded in May and has been in a continuous dress rehearsal for the upcoming T20I World Cup which is scheduled to be played in October this year. The Indian team has played against international sides such as South Africa, Ireland, England, and West Indies and now they are headed to the Asia Cup which in many ways will clear things and the air about the approach that the Indian team is looking to have.
So far the Indian team has done quite well as they have emerged victorious against Ireland, England, and recently West Indies. The road for the players has been a hectic one, especially the ones who play all three formats of the game. The BCCI has actioned regarding this and has put a rotation policy in place which enables the senior players to take periodic breaks and the junior players to fill in whenever the need arises. It is a well-known fact that the Indian team doesn't have any dearth of talent, especially when it comes to players who can represent the nation on the international stage.
India had a shocker of a World Cup campaign in 2021 as they were eliminated from the league stage of the tournament. Just to ensure that they put a strong eleven on the field for the World Cup, the Indian team management is trying and testing a certain group of players who can help and enhance the quality of the team.
"We play a lot of cricket, so there will be injuries and workload management, so we have to rotate players. But it gives our bench strength to go and play the game, which is why we could try so many other guys who are ready to take that international stage and perform. We want to create our bench strength, we want to make sure that India's future is in safe hands. That's the planning that we are trying to have. The team's goal is important and then obviously parts in it where the individuals come into play and play the role in the team's success. But whatever the team is trying to do, the individuals need to buy into that thought process and work towards that direction", said Rohit.
After the 2021 ICC T20I World Cup, Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy from Virat Kohli. India also put a new head coach in place with Rahul Dravid taking the reins of team management from Ravi Shastri.
