Asia Cup: Kohli gets selectors’ nod despite poor form

New Delhi: For cricket lovers, August through November will be the busiest period. Along with innumerable bilateral matches between various international teams, the years 2022 and 2023 will see two significant T20 competitions — the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.

Asia Cup 2022, the first of the series, will take place from August 27 to September 11 in the United Arab Emirates.

So, the five wisemen of Indian cricket (senior selectors) decided to bring back Virat Kohli after a break and KL Rahul after an injury lay-off in the 15-member squad. Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

Wicket-keeper batsmen Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson aren’t included in the squad, while Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are. Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, pacer Deepak Chahar and left-arm spinner Axar Patel have been designated as backups for Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, and Avesh Khan, who have been selected for the Asia Cup.

Kohli was rested from the recent ODI and T20I series in the Caribbean, and will miss the upcoming ODIs in Zimbabwe as well. After the tour of England, Bumrah chose not to travel to the West Indies, and he was also given a break from the forthcoming ODI series in Zimbabwe. He reportedly experienced back spasms the previous week and travelled to Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy, where he was diagnosed with a niggle.

Six teams will compete in the 15th edition of the tournament. India, who are the current winners, has won the Asia Cup seven times, making them the most successful team overall. In contrast to the last tournament, which used an ODI format, this one will use a T20 format in preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

The six teams are divided into two groups with India, Pakistan and a qualifying team in Group A and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan forming Group B. Each team plays the other once in the group stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super Four round.

The top two teams from Super Four will qualify for the final. India and Pakistan will clash at the Asia Cup cricket in Dubai on August 28.

Debate over Kohli

Despite being one of the fittest cricketers in India, Kohli has missed 17 of India’s 22 international games since the end of the Indian Premier League in 2022.

Kohli averages 20.25 in the shortest format this year at a strike rate of just above 128. That’s why it was expected that selectors will have a serious debate over his continuance in the team, especially keeping in mind the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. However, the selectors have shown faith in him, who has an overall average of 50.12 in 99 T20Is, a number that increases to 76.81 in the T20 World Cup.

He last played for his India on July 17, in the third One-Day International against England. After that he missed eight-match white-ball tour of the West Indies and will miss the forthcoming three-match One-day International series against Zimbabwe, which begins on August 18.

Kohli’s last 100 in International cricket came in December 2019 against Bangladesh and since then more than three years have been lapsed without a three-figure mark.

There is no disputing that Kohli has scored some fifties in T20I matches as well as other formats, but there is also no denying that big runs have stopped coming from his willow. Fans and management will be hoping that the former Indian captain will return to his big runs making ways as soon as possible, even though any international batter can experience this trough like recently Joe Root, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith did and staged recovery.

Many cricket pundits were expecting Kerala’s Sanju Samson to be picked over Kohli this time around. Since making his international debut in 2015, seven years ago, Samson has only ever played three consecutive games once in his career. Rishabh Pant, who was chosen as the first-choice keeper with Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul as backup options, won the position. Naturally, Samson’s omission did not sit well with his online followers.

The cricketer from Kerala wasn’t the only well-known person to be denied a spot in the Asia Cup. The 15-member team also did not include two additional T20I regulars, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. What has further come as a surprise is that Samson was not even selected as a standby.

Ishan Kishan, who served as India’s reserve opener at the T20 World Cup in 2021, is another notable exclusion from the team. From the beginning of the order until the June away series against Ireland, he was given a lengthy rope. He hasn’t played in the starting XI much after then, though.

However, the left-hander has been remarkably steady, scoring 543 runs at an average of 30.16 and a strike rate of 131.15 in 19 T20Is. Since India already has two wicket-keepers in the form of Pant and Karthik in the roster, the 24-year-old has been forced to take a hit.

Road to the WC

Given the situation, Team India is in, 12-13 players almost select for themselves. So, the entire selection discussion for Team India shall revolve around a couple of spots that are yet to be finalised.

Talking about the confirmed batters among 12 players, we have skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Suryakumar Yadav. Without a doubt, these three are key batters in Asia Cup. While Rohit and Rahul are our first-choice openers, Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli will be playing the key role in constructing the middle-order. Once again, the onus will be on Pant to provide that finishing touches to India’s victory in close encounters.

However, the question of whether to keep playing Dinesh Karthik when he is on the wrong side of 30s is one that only selectors can answer. In recent games, Karthik has been rewarded for his valiant efforts in the finishing overs. The question of whether he can provide India a long-term solution, however, is one to which no one has the answer.

In the allrounder’s slot, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are India’s first-choice players. Both have shown in the recent past that they are equally potent with bat and ball. Hardik, in particular, has made an impressive comeback after injury by bowling at 140 kmph speed on English pitches.

Coming to the bowling, in the absence of injured Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal will have the duty to defend India totals.

One name that has been missing from the Asia Cup squad is that of Mohammed Shami, India’s most experienced bowler. Once fit, Harshal Patel can easily regain his place in the team ahead of struggling Avesh Khan.

Shami has not been a part of the Indian T20I setup since the World Cup last year despite the fact that he produced consistent performances for Gujarat Titans en route to their title-winning campaign in the 2022 Indian Premier League. However, he can still be part of the squad for the T20 World Cup later this year as his experience of bowling on bouncy hard pitches of Australia will come handy.

India’s squad for the Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

(  Chander Shekhar Luthra is a senior Delhi-based journalist. He can be contacted  on shekhar.luthra@gmail.com)

—INDIA NEWS STREAM