Few surprises in Indian team for Asia Cup; will Sanju feature in playing XI?

Indian selectors announced two national squads on August 19. The senior selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, announced the Indian men's team for the Asia Cup to be held at Dubai from September 9. The same day, Neetu David, the chief selector for women, released the list of cricketers chosen for the ODI Women’s World Cup, to be hosted by India from the end of September.

There were no surprises in the men’s squad. Prior to the meeting on August 19, the selectors had decided to retain Suryakumar Yadav (SKY), who had recovered after undergoing surgery for sports hernia, as the skipper. This saw SKY taking part in the deliberations of the selection committee and accompanying Agarkar for the interaction with the media. This was one of the few occasions when selectors faced the dilemma of a surfeit of riches, and there were lengthy debates in the sports pages and even among fans as to who should be dropped.

In particular, there were doubts whether selectors will try to change the composition of the side and bring in Shubman Gill, Yasashvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar and Mohamed Siraj, all of whom had played stellar roles in the series against England. Of the four, only Gill found favour with the selectors, who decided to make him the vice captain, holding the promise that sooner than later, they expect him to take over the reins from SKY and lead the team in all formats.

One can understand the need for giving a break to Jaiswal and Siraj, who have been playing nonstop cricket for a few months now and need to give their body some rest. But Sundar and Prasidh Krishna, who had a splendid season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and came into their own in the final Test against England, are unlucky to have missed the bus. The same is the case with Sai Sudarshan, the orange cap winner in the last edition of IPL, who made the most of the opportunities he received in England.

Shreyas Iyer is also unfortunate, having had a good run with the bat in the IPL and Champions Trophy, and led Kings XI Punjab with elan in the IPL, yet he finds himself in the cold. The lament of Agarkar as to who they could drop to fit in Iyer tells only part of the story. In all probability, it is the reluctance to keep him outside the playing eleven, where he is not guaranteed a place, that worked against him.

The bowling side appears well-balanced with the return of Jasprit Bumrah to the squad. He will be supported with the new ball either by Arshdeep Singh or Harshit Rana, with Hardik Pandya available as an option when the need arises. As pitches in Dubai tend to be slow, selectors have included three spin bowlers - Varun Chakravarty, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel - in the side. All three look likely to figure in the final playing eleven, where Patel’s abilities with the bat will come as an added advantage.

Sanju Samson retains his place in the squad, though one is not sure whether he will make it to the playing eleven, unless he is asked to keep the wicket. The presence of Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma means that Samson will get his place at the top of the order only if one of them is dropped. With SKY batting at four, the last batting place may go to Jitesh Sharma or Rinku Singh. Pandya and Patel play the role of floaters, who can bat at any position in the middle order depending on the match situation.

Harmanpreet to lead a set team
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will be hoping to break the jinx that has prevented them from winning any ICC titles to date. The side came close to winning the title in 2017, but ultimately lost by a razor-thin margin of nine runs to England. The other occasion when India reached the final was in 2005, when they went down tamely to Australia by more than 100 runs.

The major surprise was the exclusion of Shafali Verma, the attacking opening batter. She had grabbed eyeballs with her explosive exploits with the willow while still in her teens, which saw her getting pitchforked to the national side at a young age. She was the top-ranked batter in the ICC T20 World Cup of 2020, where she played a key role in India reaching the final.

However, she was not able to live up to her early promise. Of late, she has been bogged down by a drought of runs from her bat, leading to loss of place in the team as well. Pratika Rawal, her replacement, grabbed this opportunity with both hands and cemented her place with a run of tall scores as seen from her tally of 703 runs at an average of 54.07 and strike rate of 87.43 in the 14 ODIs she played since her debut in December 2024. More importantly, she has struck an excellent understanding with Smriti Mandhana, who remains the main pillar of Indian batting.

The opening pair of Pratika and Smriti will be followed by the experienced trio of Jemima Rodriguez, Harmanpreet and Richa Ghosh, while Harleen Deol looks set to grab the last place in the middle order. Yastika Bhatia can add to the batting lineup if required, besides doubling as the reserve wicket-keeper.

On the bowling front, Renuka Singh, the old warhorse, is back after being out of action since the Women’s Premier League (WPL) with a stress fracture. She is expected to lead the attack, which appears a bit short on experience, with the possible exception of Sneh Rana and Deepthi Sharma, both falling under the category of all-rounders bowling off spin.

A look at the career graphs of the bowling options available to skipper Harmanpreet tells one that, except for Renuka, Deepthi Sharma and Sneh Rana, none of the others have played in more than 10 ODIs. Kranti Goud and Sree Charani are exciting prospects, but they have a long way to go as they are in their first season in the big league.

Arundhati Reddy and Amanjot Kaur have played only in 9 ODIs, while Radha Yadav has played one fewer match. The World Cup is a high-octane championship where one needs the services of experienced campaigners to perform under pressure-cooker-like situations. Here, one will certainly miss the services of the experienced Pooja Vastrakar, who is still on the path of recovery after suffering an injury to her knee before WPL.

India chances
On paper, India, the reigning ICC T20 champion, appear the favourite to win the Asia Cup. India is placed at the pole position in ICC rankings of T20 sides, followed by Australia and England. The other major sides taking part in the Asia Cup -- Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan -- figure at places from 7 to 10. However, there is no room for complacency in any sport, and the team will have to perform to its potential to retain the title they won in 2023.

On the contrary, the Indian Women are third in the ICC ODI rankings, behind Australia and England, who are both better sides on paper. Hence, Harmanpreet and her side will need to come up with outstanding performances to lift the trophy and break the jinx.

It was Harmanpreet who electrified the country and brought the exploits of the women’s team to the drawing rooms of cricket fans with her brilliant century against Australia in the 2017 ICC World Cup. Her monumental unbeaten innings of 171 off 115 balls in the semifinals stands as a rough equivalent of Kapil Dev’s knock of 175 not out in the 1983 World Cup.

Unfortunately for Harmanpreet and the side, India could not lift the trophy that year as fell at the last hurdle. The upcoming championship at home offers her the best chance to be part of a World Cup-winning side, an honour that she deserves richly. At 36, she is not getting younger, and this will, in all probability, be her last ICC championship, and one hopes that she is able to achieve her dream this time around.

All the best, Team India, both men and women, as they embark on their respective missions in September.