After the historic decision to let India’s men’s and women’s cricket teams play in the Asian Games 2023, which will take place in September and October in Hangzhou, China, BCCI said on Saturday that no cricketers who are going to the World Cup will be considered for the men’s team. This means that India’s first-ever men’s cricket team for the Asian Games will be missing regular players like captain Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Hardik Pandya, star batter Virat Kohli, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul, pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, and others.
“BCCI will send teams for both men and women to the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, in September 2023. But because the Asian Games and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 are on the same dates, BCCI will choose players who aren’t in the World Cup to play in the Asian Games,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said after the 19th Apex Council meeting in Mumbai on Friday.
The Asian Games will take place from September 23 to October 8. Cricket is a team sport that takes a lot of time, so compared to other events, it is likely to be played until the last day. This means that India’s best cricket players, who will be busy getting ready for the ICC World Cup 2023, won’t be able to take part. The 50-over event will start on October 5 in India. Australia plays India for the first time on October 8.
BCCI will pick a 15-person team and keep three official backup players, just like the other nine teams in the World Cup. So, the 18 players picked for the ODI World Cup won’t be on India’s men’s Asia Games team.
India’s Asian Games team will likely be led by Dhawan. Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma will get their first call-ups.
Shikhar Dhawan, who is not in the running for a spot in the World Cup, was said to be likely to lead the Indian team at the Asian Games. Other up-and-coming players like Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, and Mukesh Kumar could make their starts for India in the T20 format Asian Games. Those who almost made it to the World Cup but didn’t quite make it can also be considered for the Asian Games. For example, it is doubtful that both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal would be among the 18 backup openers for the World Cup. However, one or both of them could be on the Asian Games team.
The women’s team won’t have any problems like that. The first Asian Games will be held in China. A full-strength team led by regular leader Harmanpreet Kaur will go there. Last year, when the Indian women’s team went to the Commonwealth Games for the first time, they lost in the final to Australia and got the silver title.
The Asian Games will include cricket for the third time. India did not send either a men’s or women’s team to the Asian Games in 2010 or 2014.
When picking their teams for the Asian Games, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan are expected to face a similar problem.
After the Apex Council meeting, BCCI makes five important statements.
In addition to the historic choice to let India join the Asian Games, BCCI also made a few other important decisions.
– BCCI will make a strategy for its players (including retired players) about whether or not they can play in T20 leagues outside of India.
The BCCI will keep the Impact Player idea in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the next season, but there will be two changes from the last season and the Indian Premier League: (a) the teams will have to choose their playing XI and 4 substitute players before the toss; and (b) the Impact Player can be used at any time during the match. In the previous Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season, a team could only use the Impact Player before the 14th over of a game.
In the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the BCCI has chosen to add two bouncers per over to make the match between bat and ball more fair.
– The BCCI will work to improve stadiums in the country in two steps: (a) The first step will be to improve the venues for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. This work will be done before the World Cup starts. (b) The second step will be to improve the rest of the venues.
