Gaikwad To Lead India At Asian Games; Jaiswal, Rinku Named In Squad

Chennai Super Kings' star opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was on Friday named the captain of the Indian men's cricket team for the Asian Games in Hangzhou in China. While earlier reports had speculated that veteran India batter Shikhar Dhawan could lead in the September 19 to to October 8 event, the BCCI selectors named Gaikwad, who has been doing quite well in the IPL. Talented middle-order batter Rinku Sigh got his maiden call-up for the national team, while JItesh Sharma has been selected at the wicketkeeper of the squad.  

Clearly, the composition of the side shows that the BCCI selectors have gone with young players. The continental games coincides with the start of the ODI World Cup and that is why a B team has been named. Among the other big names who have got a chance are Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 171 on his Test debut against West Indies. Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Shivam Dube, Avesh Khan and  Arshdeep Singh - all of whom are popular names in the IPL - are part of the Asian Games squad.

Gaikwad, who will lead the side in China, is currently with the Test squad in the Caribbean.

"The Men's Selection Committee has picked India's squad for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 to be held from 19th September to 8th October 2023 at Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field. The men's cricket competition will take place from 28th September to 8th October in a T20 format," the BCCI said in a release. 

Cricket was last played the Asian Games in 2014 when India did not take part. The BCCI Apex Council cleared the participation of men and women teams earlier this month.

Team India (Senior Men) squad for 19th Asian Games: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)

Standby list of players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan.

With PTI inputs

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