Chahar, Ashwin, Hooda? Competition heats up as India’s Asia Cup selection looms

India’s selectors will select the squad for the Asia Cup later this week or early next week, their final selection before having to put together the 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup in October. While there are home T20I series against Australia and South Africa following the Asia Cup in September, the World Cup squad will most likely have to be named before those matches.

India could approach the Asia Cup in two ways: select their best squad or use the tournament to further evaluate World Cup options. As of now, 12 slots are reserved, assuming everyone is fit. On the batting front, there are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and Dinesh Karthik. The two allrounders should be Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. Yuzvendra Chahal, along with Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Harshal Patel, should be the wristspinners. According to ESPNcricinfo, this leaves three slots open.

It remains to be seen whether India selects these 12 and their first choices for back-up roles in the Asia Cup, or whether they give other contenders one last chance. The idea could be to cover as many bases as possible with the remaining three players. Here are some of the players for whom the Asia Cup selection will be critical.

Deepak Chahar was India’s preferred powerplay wicket-hunter not long ago, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar has served as a timely reminder of his class in his absence due to injury. Chahar’s ability to hit sixes will still entice India, particularly to compensate for the possibility of Jadeja failing to succeed. Jadeja will remain India’s first-choice allrounder, but his strike rates with both bat and ball have been a source of concern this year. If Jadeja’s batting fails to click, India may look for a more attacking spin option, in which case Chahar will be able to lengthen the batting order. India will undoubtedly be interested in seeing how he performs at the Asia Cup.

R Ashwin 

A fun fact: in T20s in 2022, Ashwin has a higher batting strike rate than Jadeja. However, Ashwin’s resurgence in this format is not due to his batting. Offpsinner has emerged as the bankable bowler that teams have returned to recently: an experienced bowler who can provide four overs of significant wicket-taking potential and a few bad days. Ashwin stands a good chance of facing teams with multiple left-handed batters, especially if India can find Jadeja’s runs elsewhere. However, if they face a right-hander-heavy lineup, Chahal and Jadeja will almost certainly be the first-choice spinners, and it is difficult to imagine India playing three spinners.

Axar Patel

Axar is Jadeja’s equivalent backup. The shorter the format, the greater the threat Axar poses to Jadeja’s position. However, it is unlikely that India will select a player who is primarily a backup in that role. In the end, it will be either Jadeja or Axar in the XI. If Axar is selected for the Asia Cup, it means he is still a threat to Jadeja’s spot.

Deepak Hooda

Hooda has seized every opportunity that has presented itself to him in 2022. He has also demonstrated his versatility with the ball, allowing him to sneak in an over or two against left-handed batters. While one of the first-choice 12 mentioned earlier is likely to be on the bench, Hooda could still find a spot as a second batting back-up in the squad of 15.

Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep’s unique selling point is his ability to nail yorkers at the death, as well as the fact that he is the only left-arm quick in the race. If India only selects one fast-bowling back-up, the match may come down to Arshdeep vs Chahar. Arshdeep may lose out on batting because India already has two sure starters who aren’t six-hitters in Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal. India will almost certainly select both Arshdeep and Chahar for the Asia Cup and see how they perform.

Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav

The two wristspinners have been in the T20I set-up for a few months, but India’s recent selections indicate that they will not play two wristspinners in the same XI, and Chahal may not require backup. Don’t be surprised if one of Kuldeep or Bishnoi makes the Asia Cup squad.