Asia Cup 2023: Will they make it to Asia Cup 2023 squad is the millionaire dollar question every cricket fan and expert are asking. Head coach Rahul Dravid feels depth in batting is the one area India need to focus on. With less than 60 days for the World Cup, India are back in familiar territory – no solid number four and wicketkeeper batter at number five. KL Rahul is likely to make a comeback during Asia Cup, but there is no word on Shreyas Iyer yet.
Rahul Dravid is optimistic of having a full-strength squad for the Asia Cup, with Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul potentially returning to the side.
“We have a few guys coming back from injuries in any case. We are going to have to give them opportunities to play (in Asia Cup). I haven’t really thought about Asia Cup at this stage. We have a one week camp in Bengaluru from August 23. We’ll be assembling there as a one-day team. We will take it as it comes.”
During the ODI series against West Indies, India tried Suryakumar Yadav at the number four spot, but the number one T20I batter disappointed failing to cross even 40 in three ODIs. Sanju Samson got one fifty, but he fared miserably in the T20 series. Dravid feels the team needs to work on challenges ahead of the Continental Cup.
“Regarding the squad, we had in the Caribbean, we probably did not have the flexibility to change the combinations. But I think in the future, we can look at specific areas to get better – depth in the batting is one area we are trying to address. But we also do not want to weaken our bowling attack to ensure our batting goes bigger. We have challenges on that front, and we need to work on that,” he explained.
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Asia Cup 2023: What are the concerns Rahul Dravid is talking about in the batting lineup ahead of Asia Cup?
· India have not yet identified a solid number four player in the absence of Shreyas Iyer.
· Suryakumar Yadav has failed to live up to the lofty expectations in ODIs, scoring just 511 runs in 24 innings.
· Samson has fared much better, scoring 390 runs in 12 innings however, he has proven to be a bit inconsistent as well as finisher.
· Ishan Kishan was tried in ODIs as an opener, and the southpaw scored three fifties, however, with Rohit Sharma back as an opener, Kishan will be shifted in the middle order.
· The southpaw does not have a great track road as number four in ODIs, averaging just 23.
· No batter apart from Shreyas Iyer has nailed that slot in ODIs. Rahul has done well as a wicketkeeper at number five, averaging over 45 in 2022.
Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will have to play practice matches at NCA to prove their full fitness. India are likely to announce squad for the Continental Cup by this week, and they would be hoping Shreyas and Rahul regain full fitness.
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