Indian Cricket Team is currently in Caribbean Islands engaged in a five-match T20I series against West Indies. From there they will travel to Ireland for another T20 series. From August 30, the real preparations of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will begin with the much-awaited Asia Cup 2023. The Asia Cup will feature six teams. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal are going to participate in this edition of the tournament. India is drafted into Group A along with arch-rivals Pakistan and Nepal is the third team in the group. If India and Pakistan qualify from the Group, they will face each other again in the Super Four and there is also a chance, they might face-off a third time in the tournament if they qualify for the finals. The Asia Cup 2023 will see some big games and that will put to Test how much India are prepared for the mega world event in October. Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur Set for Tie-Breaker To Be Picked in India's ICC World Cup 2023 Squad as Extra Pacer.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rested themselves in the West Indies ODI series. Coach Rahul Dravid revealed that Indian team is currently hit by a few uncertainties of injury situation, around some key players like KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah which has forced them to experiment with a few cricketers in case the named cricketers don't be available for selection and that might force a change in combination. Ishan Kishan impressed in the series with a hat-trick of half-centuries while Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson had one good game each. Mukesh Kumar debuted in the series and impressed straightaway. Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami were also rested in the West Indies series and are expected to be back for the Asia Cup 2023 but concerns yet linger around Suryakumar Yadav's ODI form.

Among the injured Indian Cricketers, Jasprit Bumrah is all set to lead the team in Ireland while making a comeback after almost a year. Shreyas Iyer will still need time to get fit while KL Rahul is still getting assessed and set to play a practice game in Bengaluru before a call is to be taken on his fitness situation. KL Rahul is not only a reliable option in the middle order but he is also the wicketkeeper of the team, his absence will cause either of Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson to take his place. Also there has been questions around India's long tail which will make them to explore the option of having Shardul Thakur in the Playing XI.  Despite claims of including in-form batter Tilak Varma in the squad, it doesn't seems like a probable call from the newly appointed selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar and the rest of the panel. KL Rahul to Participate in A Practice Game in Bengaluru, Situation Around Availability For Asia Cup 2023 to Be Clearer By Weekend: Report.

India Likely Squad For Asia Cup 2023

Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (Wk), Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (Wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Reserves: Sanju Samson, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 10, 2023 08:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).