Asia Cup 2023: Back-up captains of each team

Asia Cup will return with the One-Day International (ODI) format in August. In 2018, the Asia Cup was played in the ODI format, and India emerged as the champions under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, beating Bangladesh in the final. Virat Kohli, the then-India skipper, was rested for the series.

Rohit, the deputy of Kohli, was given the reins of the side for the tournament and delivered desired results to Indian fans with his leadership. In the absence of Kohli, Rohit played his part exceptionally and led India to the seventh title triumph. This year, all regular skippers will play in the important continental tournament. In case regular skippers fail to show up in the competition, their second in command will take up the leadership role.

Talking more, here are the backup skippers of all teams

6. Nepal - Aarif Sheikh

In November 2022, Rohit Paudel was appointed Nepal’s captain. Nepal beat the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup final in May and qualified for the Asia Cup 2023. In the Asia Cup 2023, Nepal are placed in Group A, along with the heavyweights India and Pakistan.

In the crucial series, Paudel will look to lead from the front, but if he gets ruled out of the tournament due to some circumstances, the question will arise of who is going to take charge. Currently, Nepal does not have a vice-captain, but in the squad, there are some experienced names who could lead the side in Paudel’s unavailability.

Aarif Sheikh, who is active in the international circuit since 2018, is capable of captaining the team. During his initial cricketing days, Sheikh served the Nepal Under-19 side as a vice-captain. In his five-year ODI career, Sheikh has amassed 878 runs in 40 innings of 47 ODIs at a strike rate of 62.44.