The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup T20 tournament will take place in the United Arab Emirates later this month and will be hosted by Sri Lanka. The six-team tournament was initially scheduled to take place in the island nation, but because of their inability to host the event due to the ongoing political and economic situation, it was shifted to the UAE, with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board retaining the hosting rights.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and one qualifier will take part in the main event that will start on August 27. The schedule of the tournament has already been announced and the highlight of which is a minimum of two matches between India and Pakistan. The two arch-rivals will first come up against each other on August 28 in Dubai and then on September 4 at the same venue once again, if they manage to finish in the top two, which is almost a certainty as the third team in the group will be a qualifier.
Pakistan announced the squad for the showpiece event on Wednesday (August 3), and with a deadline of August 8 to announce the squad, BCCI is expected to reveal the players on Monday, which is also the deadline for submissions.
The ongoing five-match T20I series against West Indies will end on Sunday (August 7), and according to a report in InsideSport, the BCCI will reveal the squad on Monday.
According to the details shared by the website, the selection committee will meet physically in Mumbai and will be joined by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid via video conferencing. In all likelihood, young Punjab Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh, who played his first T20I against England last month and has featured in all three T20Is against West Indies up till now, is a certainty for the squad.
Senior top-order batter KL Rahul will also be included in the squad but will only travel to Dubai if he manages to clear the fitness test.
“Selectors have been selecting the squad via virtual meetings. But this time they will physically meet and select the Indian squad for the Asia Cup. We are confident KL Rahul will recover for the event. The team needs his quality of player,” said a top BCCI official to InsideSport.
With the submission deadline for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia being September 15, the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup hopefuls have just two more games to impress the selectors.
