Asia Cup 2018: 3 Indians who are likely to be ignored for the Asia Cup

The much-awaited six-member Asian tournament will get underway from September 15. All the teams will try to get maximum mileage out of the tournament as it will also serve as a lead-up to the World Cup. The teams would want to get their batting order and bowling combination tested since the tournament is fairly long.

India are entering the tournament as defending champions, and they along with Pakistan, are the favourites to lift the trophy this year. Several players from the domestic circuit like Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Siraj have given consistent and noteworthy performances. And hence, a few players from the Indian squad which was sent to England for the ODIs might have to make way for them.

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#3. Siddarth Kaul

Siddarth Kaul took the IPL by storm with his timely wickets and a stingy economy. Though he went a little awry in the later stages of the tournament, he still ended up with a staggering 21 wickets. The Indian management wanted to cash in on his fine run and so booked him a flight ticket to England.

Kaul started in the XI and was expected to make an immediate impact. At the end of two matches he returned wicketless and with an economy well upwards of 6, Kaul was far from the bowler we got to admire in the IPL. Unfortunately, the selectors also would have noticed that.

#2. Shardul Thakur

Unlike Kaul, there wasn’t much to be excited about Shardul Thakur’s IPL season. Though he fetched 16 wickets, he bled runs generously. The selectors invested faith in Thakur and named him in the Indian ODI squad for England. He was overlooked for the first 2 ODIs and in the third ODI he picked up a solitary wicket and conceded 51 runs, which was not admissible, considering the context of that match.

Thakur has never looked threatening and hasn’t been able to win matches for India in his opportunities thus far. With bowlers like Mohammed Siraj and Rajneesh Gurbani knocking on the selectors’ doors, the 26-year-old might have to watch the Asia cup on television.

#1. Suresh Raina

Raina made a comeback to the ODI side after a gap of nearly 3 years, albeit as a replacement for Ambati Rayudu, who failed the yo-yo test. His form in the IPL blew hot and cold and not many expected the 31-year-old to replace Rayudu in the ODI squad against England. But the selectors thought otherwise and gave Raina one more chance.

He started ahead of the then, in-form Dinesh Karthik, but couldn’t make any handy contribution with the bat. To add salt to the wound, his stay at the crease looked really uncomfortable as he constantly missed putting bat to ball.

With age not on his side and players like Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw shattering records in the domestic circuit, it is highly unlikely that India would go ahead with the southpaw again.