The All India Men’s Senior Selection Committee is all set to convene on Tuesday in Mumbai to pick the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, which will be played in the T20 format.
Ajit Agarkar and co have plenty of tough calls to make. Will Shubman Gill be included? Will Rinku Singh retain his place? Will Mohammed Siraj make it to the squad? These questions will be answered in the days to come. However, ahead of the selection meeting, former India batter Mohammad Kaif picked his squad, and there is no place for Rinku Singh and Yashasvi Jaiswal in his team.
While arguing against Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kaif said that the young Rajasthan Royals batter is battling it out against Shubman Gill for the position of back-up opener, and only one between the two can make it to the squad.
The former Indian batter said that considering Gill’s performances in the England Tests, where the visitors walked away with a 2-2 draw, the right-handed batter, who is the Test captain, needs to be rewarded with a place in the squad.
Kaif also said that even Mohammed Siraj needs to be rewarded for his performances in the England Tests, where he finished as the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps.
“Only one between Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal can make the team. The way in which Shubman Gill approached the England series, he made it 2-2. He scored 754 runs. He also scored runs in the IPL, so I feel he should be there in the squad,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
“He might not make it to the playing XI, but he should be there in the squad. He should be there as the backup opener. Mohammed Siraj and Shubman Gill should be rewarded for their performances in the England Test series,” he added.
Jitesh Sharma back-up wicketkeeper
Kaif also stated that he feels Jitesh Sharma will be rewarded for his performance for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 season, saying the right-handed batter can act as Sanju Samson’s backup wicketkeeper.
He also said that Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar will make his playing XI in the bowling department. Kaif picked Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Varun Chakravarthy as the spinners. Kaif picked Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj as the frontline seamers.
The Men’s Asia Cup will begin on September 9. India will play their first match on September 10, while the marquee contest against Pakistan will take place on September 14.
Mohammad Kaif’s squad: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Axar Patel (vc), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Jitesh Sharma.