Rohit Sharma: 2023 Asian Games – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in all probability, will miss the Asian Games as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) plans to send a B team for the Continental Games. The squad will be a B team because the A team will be busy playing the ICC Cricket World Cup set to commence likely from October 5 in India.
BCCI are set to forward the list of players to the Indian Olympic Association before June 30. With senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Shami, Bumrah, and KL Rahul busy playing for the 50-over World Cup, BCCI have to send a B team comprising fringe players like Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Umran Malik.
BCCI makes U-Turn on Asian Games 2023; agrees to send men, women cricket teams
2023 Asian Games: Indian Cricket Team set to return to Asiad games after 12 years hiatus
Cricket was part of two editions of the Asiad in 2010 and 2014, but India did not send women’s and men’s teams. After being left out in the 2018 edition in Jakarta, Indian Cricket Team will finally return to the Asiad games in Hangzhou in 2023. The showpiece event was supposed to be held in 2022 but got postponed due to COVID.
According to Indian Express report, BCCI are planning to send top Women’s team for the Continental Cup. Earlier, the Indian board cited prior commitments as the reason for fielding men’s and women’s teams for the Asiad Games.
“We have entries in all sports except one – cricket (team) isn’t going,” India’s chef de mission for the Asian Games, Bhupender Bajwa had told The Indian Express earlier. “They said they are preoccupied. We sent around 3-4 emails to them but when we had to send entries to the organizers, they said they won’t go.”
This won’t be the first time India will field two national teams simultaneously. In 1998, one Indian team turned out at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, while another team faced Pakistan in Sahara Cup. Recently in 2021, India fielded two teams with Shikhar Dhawan-led second-string team playing against Sri Lanka while another team led by Virat Kohli was in London laying Test series.
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