Indian team to reach UAE for Asia Cup in two groups

The Indian team just finished a gruelling tour of England where they played three T20Is, as many ODIs and five Tests and there is not much time left for them to leave for a high-profile tournament like Asia Cup in the UAE. India will be playing their first match in Asia Cup on September 18 when they take on minnows Hong Kong and the very next day, they will take on arch-rivals Pakistan.

India’s more-than-two-month-long tour of England concluded on September 11, the final day of the fifth Test match, which India lost by 110 runs. India had a disappointing tour overall, losing the Test series 1-4 and ODI series 1-2 while winning the T20I series 2-1. Their batsmen struggled for the most part of the series apart from captain Virat Kohli while a few hit form towards the later part though that did not change the series’ outcome.

Six players who played England series to fly directly to UAE

The BCCI decided to send the team in two groups to allow more time to the players who were in the England tour to regain their breath. While 10 members of the 16-player squad who did not play in England will leave for the UAE on September 13, the remaining ones will fly straight to the Asia Cup host nation from England on September 16, a report in BDcrictime.com reported.

The 10 players who are leaving on Thursday are: Rohit Sharma (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Axar Patel, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav and Khaleel Ahmed. The ones coming from England are: vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Shardul Thakur.

Regular captain Virat Kohli, who was jointly picked as the man of the series in England with 593 runs, has been rested for the tournament as India have a busy international schedule ahead later this year in the run-up to the World Cup next year.

India are the holders of the Asia Cup and will be facing some tough opponents in this edition in their quest to defend their title won in 2016. India have won the tournament six times since 1984 while Sri Lanka have won it five times. Pakistan have won twice. Two-time runners-up Bangladesh and Afghanistan are the remaining two participants in the championship.

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