Asia Cup 2022: 3 Players who deserved to be in India's squad for the tournament

The much-awaited Asia Cup 2022 is all set to begin on 27 August and run till 11 September. This edition will be played in a T20 format and will serve as a precursor to the T20 World Cup to be played in October-November. On Monday (8 August), the All-India Senior Selection Committee announced the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup.

The notable inclusions to the squad were the experienced duo of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, who returned after rest and injury concerns respectively. The fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel missed out on the squad due to injury concerns.

The youngsters, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan have been rewarded with the selections. However, there were some players who were unlucky to find a place in the squad, despite good performances.

1. Axar Patel

The talented all-rounder Axar Patel earned a call-up to the Indian team in the South Africa series due to the experienced players taking a rest after the busy Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He had an average series by taking three wickets and scoring 23 runs in five appearances.

In the Ireland series, Patel conceded 24 runs in three overs, while returning wicket-less. The 28-year-old featured in a single game against England and conceded 23 runs off two overs. He was given a longer rope in the Caribbean Tour across both formats.

The ODI leg of the series witnessed scoring 85 runs and picking two wickets in three appearances, which included his whirlwind knock of 64* off 35 helping India to secure a victory. In the T20I series, he scalped five wickets in two appearances, with the best figures of 3/15. He is chosen as one of the three backup players for the tournament and will be a replacement for an injured/unwell player.