Bengaluru, September 1: Virat Kohli has been rested for the Asia Cup as the national selectors on Saturday (September 1) announced the squad for the tournament which will be led by Rohit Sharma.
The Asia Cup 2018 will be the 14th edition of the tournament and will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates from September 15 to 28. The matches will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai and Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
This edition of the tournament will feature India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and one qualifier from the Asia Cup qualifiers currently underway.
Team India for Asia Cup, 2018 announced. Rohit Sharma set to lead the side in UAE #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/mx6mF27a9K
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 1, 2018
"Virat Kohli has been rested because of his workload as we had a discussion with him after the third Test (against England at Nottingham) while Khaleel Ahmed was selected because he is young, promising and gives us a left-arm seamer option," said chief selector MSK Prasad.
It may be recalled that Kohli's fitness was a big question ahead of the third Test against England after he suffered a back spasm during the second Test at Lords. However, Hardik Pandya, who was also expected to given a break, was included in the squad.
Kedar Jadhav, who was last appeared for India in an ODI against South Africa in February 2018, has also returned to the squad. Jadhav had missed the IPL 2018 too because of a Grade 2 hamstring injury. Ambati Rayudu, who missed the recent India A trip to England after he failed the Yo Yo test, too made a return to the side.
Manish Pandey too found a place in the middle order while Mayank Agarwal, who has been in good form since last season, will have to wait some more time to wear India colours. Dinesh Karthik too has been included as a batsman and back-up wicketkeeper to MS Dhoni. There was doubt over Karthik's inclusion after Rishabh Pant replaced him in the Test eleven during the Trent Bridge match.
India squad for Asia Cup 2018: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan (VC), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.