Indian Team sans Virat Kohli is not something fans are used to imagining, especially in a tournament as big as Asia Cup. But, this is happening. In the upcoming Asia Cup 2018, Rohit Sharma will be leading the Indian side as skipper Kohli has been rested due to excessive workload. Kohli has been playing all three formats of the game. Recently, he was excused from Afghanistan’s maiden Test against India.
With World Cup 2019 approaching, BCCI decided to rest the 29-year-old from the mega Asian event. Here’s how selectors justified their bold move,
“Considering the workload we have given Virat Kohli rest. He has been playing continuously for quite some time. We need to preserve some of our precious players who are playing all 3 formats, looking at that workload we have started with Virat and he will be rested for Asia Cup,”
When a player of his stature and current form is rested, Twitterati could not be blamed for expressing their emotions:
Clearly India have made managing Virat Kohli’s workload a big priority. That back must be hurting still
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 1, 2018
Virat Kohli has been rested from Asia Cup 2018. So no Amir vs Kohli this year. #AsiaCup
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) September 1, 2018
Virat Kohli has been rested for Asia Cup,that’s a bummer! #asiacup2018
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) September 1, 2018
Asia Cup without Virat Kohli is like Netflix without Radhika Apte. Incomplete. #AsiaCup
— SAGAR (@sagarcasm) September 1, 2018
Meanwhile when Bangladeshi’s hear that Virat Kohli has been rested for #AsiaCup. pic.twitter.com/pvV1RZNGrJ
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 1, 2018
Dude @ImranKhanPTI in your speech you said ‘If India takes one step, Pakistan will take 2’. Virat Kohli has been rested for Asia Cup. Now in return Pakistan should drop Hafeez and Shan Masood from the squad.
— SIR .. (@SirJohnRoe) September 1, 2018
Reaction of Pakistani Cricket fans when they heard Virat Kohli will not be playing in Asia Cup 2018. pic.twitter.com/XipAxhnqRU
— PhD in Bakchodi (@Atheist_Krishna) September 1, 2018
Virat Kohli rested for the Asia Cup. Rohit Sharma to lead India at the Asia Cup in UAE. We all know why.
— Ahsan. (@imPakistaniLAD) September 1, 2018
@imVkohli why do you play IPL ? Now you want rest for ASIA CUP , is it less important than IPL ?
— Shivam Mishra (@shivam_mishi) September 1, 2018
That’s not fair. A box office hit will be missing dearly. @imVkohli https://t.co/t4i2qkEUkn
— Aalia Rasheed (@aaliaaaliya) September 1, 2018
Rest of the teams after hearing there is no Virat Kohli in Asia cup pic.twitter.com/7tHt4ln7yy
— Cricket Treat (@loveofcrictreat) September 1, 2018
After numerous attempts at clearing Yo-Yo fitness test, Ambati Rayudu finally made a comeback into the ODI side. Manish Pandey retained his position with timely knocks in the List A games including the recently concluded quadrangular series. Kedar Jadhav too made a comeback after recovering from the injury suffered in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 opener.
Though Mayank Agarwal not making the cut still raises a few questions. Whereas the surprise entry in the squad was left-arm pacer Khaleed Ahmed getting his maiden call ahead of Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj.
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India squad for Asia Cup 2018: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan (VC) , KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.
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