India will begin their Asia Cup 2023 with a mouth-watering clash against Pakistan. The two neighbours will be squaring off for the first time since the 2022 T20 World Cup when India sealed a thrilling win in Melbourne.
This time around, they will be meeting in Pallekele on September 2.
India are back to full strength after the return of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah and the tourney will serve as an apt stage for them to test their preparations.
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Rahul and Iyer will be in focus considering it will be the first time these two will be playing in a competitive match with Pakistan their first challenge.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has picked his India playing XI in which he has included three pacers with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja as the two spinners.
“My three seamers would be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. Hardik Pandya would be my fourth seamer. My spinners would be Jadeja and Kuldeep. My opener would be Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma. No. 3 batter would be Virat Kohli. KL Rahul would play because he is the keeper,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
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For the much debated no. 4 spot though, Manjrekar has picked two choices in Shreyas Iyer and young Tilak Varma who is still uncapped in ODIs.
“Either Shreyas Iyer or Tilak Varma could play (in the middle-order). I am saying this because in India’s first-choice side XI, the first seven (six) batters, including Hardik Pandya, are all right-handers. Somewhere, India will have to fit in a left-hander in Tilak Varma. This is a problem India has,” Manjrekar said.
Sanjay Manjrekar’s Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer/ Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
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