Shikhar Dhawan likely to captain Indian Cricket Team in Asian Games 2023 - Reports

Veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan last played for India against Bangladesh in December 2022.

The Asian Games 2023 will take place in China’s Hangzhou from September 23rd to October 8th and the BCCI is set to send both the men’s and women’s cricket teams for the event and reports are saying that Shikhar Dhawan might captain the Indian B team to the event.

The Asian Games now feature cricket as well, and India will send a cricket team for the first time at the 2018 Asian Games. Both the Men's and Women's teams will compete in this prestigious event, although the Men's team will be a backup team because of the conflict with the 2023 ODI World Cup.

The BCCI has agreed to send both men's and women's teams to the competition, according to The Indian Express. Due to the conflict with the ODI World Cup in India, the men's team will have to assemble a second-tier roster while the women's team will field their first-choice lineup, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur.

Shikhar Dhawan is primed to captain India at Asian Games 2023 in cricket

Shikhar Dhawan, 37, has been out of favor from the Indian team since last year as the BCCI selection committee decided to move on from the left-hander after a series of poor outings with the bat by him.

He had captained the Indian team in the interim since 2021 and had led the team in the ODI series in West Indies last year, winning the series for the Men in Blue back then.

However, now that he is no longer in plans of the main Indian team, the BCCI might have him as captain of the Indian second-tier team for the Asian Games 2023, as he is still a recognized face and a big enough name.

It is also expected that fringe Indian players, who are looking to make a mark for themselves like Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Jitesh Sharma might be included in the squad for the Asian Games as none of them, as of now, are in plans for the World Cup 2023.