Ruturaj Gaikwad to lead Team India in Hangzhou Asian Games; Rinku Singh included

Batter Ruturaj Gaikwad is all set to lead Team India in the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games as the Men’s Selection Committee on Friday announce Men in Blue squad for the tournament. 

The men’s cricket competition will take place from September 28 to October 8 in a T20 format. Asian Games will take place in China this year from September 23 to October 8, 2023. Cricket will be featured in the multi-sport event.  

However, veteran players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, and Jasprit Bumrah will miss the Asian Games. 

After a solid performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Rinku Singh has been included in the Indian team for Asian Games. On the back of their fine IPL performances wicketkeeper-batters Jitesh Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh claimed a place in the squad. 

Gaikwad slammed 590 runs in 16 matches for CSK, while Jitesh and Rinku scored 309 and 474 runs for Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively. 

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been appointed as the captain of the Indian team in the Asian Games while Yashasvi Jaiswal who currently is in red-hot form and playing in the first Test against West Indies, found a place in the squad. 

Shivam Dube who was the backbone of Chennai Super Kings’ middle order batting (CSK) in the IPL 2023 has been recalled to the Indian team for Asian Games. 

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Team India (Senior Men) squad for 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 and Prabhsimran Singh (wk).

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