Cricket: Ruturaj Gaikwad To Lead India Men's Team In Asian Games

Ruturaj Gaikwad To Lead India Men's Team In Asian Games (Image Source: Google)

India men's T20 Team: Right-handed batter Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead the India men's T20 team in the upcoming Asian Games, set to be held from September 19 to October 8 in Hangzhou, China.

The 15-member squad announced by the BCCI also include Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma, all of whom are uncapped in T20 cricket.

With the men's ODI World Cup scheduled to begin in India on October 5, two days before the end of the Asian Games cricket competition, the selectors have named a second-string men's side.

Only six players from the T20I squad for the Caribbean and USA tour -- Jaiswal, Tilak, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan -- have been picked in this squad for the Asian Games.

Notably, this is the first India call-up for Uttar Pradesh batter Rinku, who had a very successful IPL 2023 for Kolkata Knight Riders. On the other hand, Vidarbha and Punjab Kings finisher Jitesh also found a place in this squad after being left out for the T20Is against West Indies.

This is also an opportunity for allrounder Washington Sundar and Rahul Tripathi to prove their T20 chops again after they were also left out for the upcoming T20Is against West Indies. 

A list of stand-by players has also been declared, which includes Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan.

Notably, cricket has featured twice in the Asian Games before -- in 2010 and 2014 -- but India didn't take part either time. As in the 2010 and 2014 editions, T20 will be the format of the cricket event in Hangzhou.

India men's squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 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)

Stand-bys: Yash Thakur, R Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, B Sai Sudarsan