INDIAN SQUAD: Surya (C), Gill (VC), Abhishek, Tilak, Pandya, Dube, Axar, Jitesh, Bumrah, Varun C, Arshdeep, Kuldeep, Sanju, Harshit, Rinku
As per reports, Gill might miss out.
You’d imagine Sanju Samson to be a certain pick. But if India decide to slot in Yashasvi Jaiswal or Shubman Gill at the top — with Tilak Varma, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav all in fine touch — Samson’s place in the middle order suddenly looks uncertain.
That could open the door for a second wicketkeeper who doubles up as a middle-order finisher. In that case, Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel come strongly into contention. Jitesh, fresh off a title-winning IPL season with RCB, is already believed to be training in Dubai — a sign that the team management might have their eyes on him.
- BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia arrives at the BCCI headquarters. The selection meeting should be underway any minute now.
- Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has reached BCCI office before time for Asia Cup selection.
While the ICC T20 World Cup allows only 15 players in the squad, the Asian Cricket Council has permitted a 17-member roster for the Asia Cup. This flexibility offers India a chance to ease immediate selection headaches and broaden the pool of players they want to test ahead of the World Cup. The big question, however, is whether head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav will exercise this option when the squad is announced this afternoon.
