Two players who earned maiden India T20I call-up for the Asian Games

BCCI on Friday, 14th July announced India's squad for the upcoming Asia Games in Hangzhou, China.

The men's T20I cricket competition, which will take place from 28th September to 8th October in China, will witness the second string squad. Ruturaj Gaikwad has been named as the captain of the men's team. 

The squad will feature several young talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi and Shivam Dube amongst others. Two Indian players are likely to make their T20I debut in the Asian Games after earning their maiden call-up. 

Two new players in the Indian T20I Squad:

Though there are several new faces in the squad, they have either been a part of the Indian T20I squad earlier or have already featured in a few T20I games for the country.

The following four players have been named for the first time in the Indian T20I squad:

Rinku Singh:

Rinku Singh is yet another youngster who has earned his maiden call-up for the national team. Rinku Singh has been a part of Kolkata Knight Riders since 2018. However, his best season came in the IPL 2023. He made heads turn with his brilliant performance throughout the season, but his 31 runs in the final over against Gujarat Titans stand out as his best. Rinku Singh ended the 2023 season with 474 runs from 14 matches with a strike rate close to 150.

Notably, When India opted for a second-string squad for the West Indies series, there was a backlash when Rinku Singh could not find a place in the team. 

Prabhsimran Singh:

Prabhsimran Singh has earned his maiden national call-up as well. The wicket-keeper batter has been a part of Punjab Kings since 2019. However, he featured only in six matches before the IPL 2023. In the recently concluded edition, he played all 14 matches and ended with 358 runs, including a ton against Delhi Capitals. 

The youngster has represented the India Emerging team already and in fact, made his List A debut in 2022 while playing for India Emerging team. Recently, he has been a part of North Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

India's T20I squad for the : 

Led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, the Indian team will feature Yashashvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma and a few other youngsters with an excellent T20 records in the last season. The Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube has returned to the squad after an excellent IPL stint with the Chennai Super Kings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who recently made his Test debut for the Indian team became the 17th player to score a century on a debut. He has been named in the T20I squad for the West Indies series as well and is likely to make his debut there. Tilak Varma also found a place in both squads and is likely to play for the county this year. 

In the Standby list, India have included Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda and Sai Sudarsan.

Notably, Tamil Nadu batter Sai Sudarsan is in form of his life. He was one of the main reasons for Lyca Kovai Kings' trophy defence in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Premier League.

India 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, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)

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