India's Asia Cup 2018 squad - Where are they now?

The 2022 Asia Cup will kick off on August 27 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will be the 15th edition of the competition. This will only be the second time in the Asia Cup, the T20I format will be used after the 2016 edition. It was initially announced that Sri Lanka would host the tournament. Due to the economic crisis in the nation, it was later moved to the UAE. There will be six teams participating in the competition, divided into two groups of three teams each. The top two teams will qualify for Super 4, and the top two from Super 4 will qualify for the final. The final of the Asia Cup 2022 will be played in Dubai on September 11. India will go into the competition as the defending champions. They won against Bangladesh in the final in 2018 by three wickets, chasing a target of 224. Litton Das was awarded the Man of the Match and Shikhar Dhawan was handed the Man of the Series. But where are the 16 members of the India squad from the 2018 Asia Cup now? 1.Rohit Sharma (C) Rohit Sharma (Photo Source: Twitter) Rohit Sharma was the stand-in captain of India for the 2018 Asia Cup in the absence of Virat Kohli, who opted out of the competition. Rohit finished as the second-highest scorer of the tournament with 317 runs in five games with one hundred and two fifties. The Asia Cup was one of the two titles that Rohit won along with the Nidahas Trophy in 2018 in the absence of Kohli. Following the 2021 T20 World Cup, Rohit became the full-time India captain after Kohli stepped down from the role. Rohit has captained India in 16 ODIs, 34 T20Is and two Test matches so far, and has a supreme win percentage of 82.69 across formats. He is currently the first name on the team sheet in all three formats for India and one of the most destructive batters in the world. 2. Shikhar Dhawan Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP) (Photo by RODGER BOSCH/AFP via Getty Images) India’s long-serving opening pairing of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan was one of the side’s strong suits in the 2018 Asia Cup as it has been in many other major tournaments. Dhawan finished as the top scorer of the competition with 342 runs in five games with two hundreds and an average of 68.40. It is unlikely that the left-handed batter would feature in the 2022 edition given that he has been dropped from the T20 team, making way for players such as KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gayakwad among many others. Dhawan also lost his place in the Test team with the next crop of players such as Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill waiting in the ranks. However, the left-hander has remained to be a force throughout his 11-year career in the ODIs. He led the team against West Indies in the ODI series in the absence of Rohit and will also captain India on the Zimbabwe tour comprising three ODIs. 3. KL Rahul KL Rahul. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) KL Rahul played in only one game in the 2018 Asia Cup and scored 60 runs off 66 balls with five fours and a six. He is currently the vice-captain of Team India and Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in Tests and T20Is. He is one of India’s best white ball batters at the moment. Rahul has missed most of the cricketing action in 2022 due to injury and illness. In June, South Africa toured India for five T20Is and Rahul was set to lead the team as Rohit was rested for the series. However, a day before the start of the series, he was ruled out due to a groin injury. A few days ago, after being named in the squad for the West Indies tour, he tested positive for Covid-19. Rahul has been out of the team for about two months now and his availability for the upcoming Asia Cup is still uncertain. 4. Manish Pandey Manish Pandey. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images) Manish Pandey, at one point, was tipped to be the solution for India’s woes at the number four position in 50-over cricket. He showed a lot of promise in the format, scoring an unbeaten century against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in only his third ODI innings in 2016. Pandey was time and again in and out of the team due to others in the pecking order or a lack of form. However, he made it to the 16-member squad for the 2018 Asia Cup and appeared in only one game, where he scored 8 runs against Afghanistan. Following the tournament, he was out of the team until January 2020. He last played in an ODI in July 2021. In the T20Is, he fared decently, scoring 709 runs in 39 games at an average of 44.31. However, his last T20I was in 2020 and is unlikely for him to make the Asia Cup squad this time. He captained Karnataka in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy and led them to the quarterfinal. 5. Ambati Rayudu Ambati Rayudu. (Photo Source: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images) Among many others in the last decade was Ambati Rayudu who was expected to solve the middle-order problems for India in the ODIs. His appearance in the 2018 Asia Cup was the first in the format since 2016, and he went on to score 175 runs in six games at an average of 43.75 with two fifties. Following the tournament, Rayudu scored a fifty and a hundred in the next four innings and was making a case for himself to be in the India squad for the 2019 World Cup. However, in 2019, a few failures put him out of the World Cup squad. Shortly after, he announced his retirement from international cricket. A few months later, he came out of retirement from cricket, citing that he still had a good amount of cricket left in him. Rayudu was last seen in action in the IPL 2022 for Chennai Super Kings. He last played for India in March 2019. 6. Kedar Jadhav Kedar Jadhav. (Photo Source: Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images) The attacking middle-order batter from Maharashtra, who initially made the national team for his batting abilities, also turned out to be the man with the golden arm for India due to his special knack for taking wickets. Kedar Jadhav did not always get to bat; but when he did, he would chip in with some valuable runs in the middle. Jadhav was one of the key members for India in the 2022 Asia Cup, scoring 70 runs in three innings at an average of 70.00, and also picking up six wickets in five innings at an average of 23.16 with an economy rate of 3.97. Jadhav scored 1,389 runs in 73 matches at an average of 42.09 and also bagged 27 wickets in the ODIs. Since March 8, 2019, he scored only one fifty and failed to get wickets in 17 matches, and was eventually dropped from the team in 2020. He was last seen in action on the field in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Maharastra in November 2021. 7. MS Dhoni (WK) MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images) During his playing days, there was never a major tournament, featuring India, which did not have MS Dhoni. He played all six games of the 2018 Asia Cup and also played a good hand in the final, scoring a crucial 36 runs. He scored 77 runs in the tournament in four innings. One of the icons and most scrutinised players of Indian cricket, Dhoni last played for India in Old Trafford, Manchester, in the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. It was a tragic ending to the international career of the Indian legend, in one of the painful matches for Indian fans. Dhoni was run out for 50, and India went on to lose the game by 18 runs and were out of the tournament. He announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket in August 2020. He was last in action on the field in the IPL 2022 as the captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in May. 8. Ravindra Jadeja Ravindra Jadeja. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) Ravindra Jadeja was one of the key players for India in the 2018 Asia Cup. He was the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with seven wickets in four matches at an average of 22.28 and a strike rate of 30.0 with an economy rate of 4.45. Jadeja finished with figures of four wickets for 29 runs against Bangladesh in Super 4. Jadeja is now one of India’s reliable batters in the middle order across all three formats and is also a top-class spinner. His recent hundred at Edgbaston in the rescheduled fifth Test match against England just emphasised that. Jadeja is currently on the ongoing India tour of West Indies for the five-match T20I series. He has scored 43 runs and picked up two wickets in two matches. He might be next in action for India for the fifth T20I in Lauderhill, Florida, on August 6. 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images) Bhuvneshwar Kumar was India’s assigned new-ball bowler in the 2018 Asia Cup. He bagged six wickets in five matches with best figures of three wickets for 15 runs and an economy rate of 4.19. He is one of the best white-ball bowlers in the powerplay at the moment. Kumar’s biggest strength is to attack the off-stump of a right-handed batter early on in the innings with the inswingers. This was particularly seen against the likes of Temba Bavuma and Reeza Hendricks in the five-match T20I series against South Africa in June. He was eventually awarded the Player of the Series. In 2022 so far, Kumar has picked up 20 wickets at an average of 16.75, a strike rate of 14.7 and an economy rate of 6.83. Kumar is going to be one of the important members of the upcoming Asia Cup. He is currently the highest-ranked Indian bowler in the T20Is and eighth overall. 10. Kuldeep Yadav Kuldeep Yadav. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images) The left-arm wrist spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2018 Asia Cup, along with Rashid Khan and Mustafizur Rahman. He scalped 10 wickets in six games at an average of 23.70 and a strike rate of 34.8 with an economy rate of 4.08. Yadav also hit the winning runs in the very last ball of the final when India needed one run. He along with his fellow wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal enjoyed a good amount of success and also together played for India in the 2019 World Cup. However, over the last year and a half, he has been in and out of the team from time to time. Yadav last played for India against Sri Lanka in a T20I in Dharamshala in February. He returned to the T20I squad for the ongoing West Indies tour and is yet to play a game after three matches. It is improbable for him to feature in the 2022 Asia Cup. 11. Jasprit Bumrah Jasprit Bumrah (Photo Source: Twitter/BCCI) Jasprit Bumrah is the spearhead of the Indian bowling lineup and one of the most feared bowlers in the world and is arguably the best bowler across formats right now. Ever since he made his international debut on 2016, he has been an integral part of the India squad for all the major tournaments. Bumrah was also part of the 2016 Asia Cup in Bangladesh. In the Asia Cup 2018, he got eight wickets in four matches at an average of 16 and a strike rate of 26.1 with an economy rate of 3.67. The following year, he finished as India’s leading wicket-taker in the 2019 World Cup in England. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, he captained India for the first time in the rescheduled fifth Test match against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham in July. After a successful outing in England with the ball, he is expected to click for India yet again in the 2022 Asia Cup. 12. Yuzvendra Chahal Yuzvendra Chahal. (Photo Source: BCCI) Yuzvendra Chahal was one of the best spinners in limited-overs cricket at the moment. In the 2018 Asia Cup, he played five matches and picked up six wickets with an economy rate of 4.47 and the best figures of three wickets for 46 runs. At the moment, Chahal is having one of his most prolific years, bagging 36 wickets in 23 matches in limited overs for India. He also had his best season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Rajasthan Royals, finishing as the purple-cap holder with 27 wickets. Chahal is the favourite to start as the specialist spinner for India in the 2022 Asia Cup, given his form. He was last in action against the West Indies in Port of Spain in the third ODI of the ongoing tour, and he picked up four wickets for 17 runs. 13. Khaleel Ahmed Khaleel Ahmed. (Photo Source: Twitter) The left-arm pacer, Khaleel Ahmed showed a lot of promise early on in his career, starting from the youth level. He was part of the Indian team in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, picking up 12 wickets in only three innings and helping India reach the final. Khaleel was also signed by Delhi Daredevils (now called Delhi Capitals) for INR 10 lakh in the 2016 IPL Auction. In September 2018, he made his India debut against Hong Kong in Dubai in the 2018 Asia Cup. He went on to pick three wickets for 48 runs in 10 overs, in a 26-run victory. In November 2018, he made his T20I debut against West Indies in Kolkata, where he picked up a wicket for 16 runs. However, the lack of form in the next year or so put him below the pecking order and eventually lost his place in the squad. He was last in action for Delhi Capitals in the 2022 IPL. 14. Deepak Chahar Deepak Chahar. (Photo source: Twitter/BCCI) Deepak Chahar made his ODI debut in the 2018 Asia Cup against Afghanistan in the Super 4. He went on to pick up the wicket of Gulbadin Naib and conceded 37 runs in four overs, and also scored 12 runs with the bat. The match ended in a tie, and that was his only appearance in the tournament. Chahar’s main strength is to bowl with the new ball. With his gentle pace, he can swing the ball either way and also get some early dismissals. He has played seven ODIs and 20 T20Is, and last played for India in February 2022. Chahar has been out of the team ever since due to a back injury and also missed the Indian Premier League (IPL). He underwent rehabilitation in the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru, and is now back in the squad for the three ODIs in Zimbabwe. 15. Siddarth Kaul India’s bowler Siddarth Kaul celebrates with Virat Kohli. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) The fast bowler from Punjab, Siddarth Kaul, made his way into the squad as some of the other players had to withdraw from the camp due to injury concerns. He appeared in only one game in the 2018 Asia Cup and went for 58 runs in nine overs without picking up a wicket. As of now, that was Kaul’s last ODI and the second last international game. Prior to the Asia Cup, he had only played two matches in the ODIs in England and was taken for 62 and 59 runs respectively without picking up any wicket. Kaul has also played three T20Is, picking up three wickets with an economy rate of 8.68. Kaul last match for India came in Febraury 2019, in a T20I against Australia in Bengaluru. Once a talented bowler and known for wickets with darting yorkers and inswingers, his career was constantly marred with injuries and inconsistencies. He was last in action for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season. 16. Dinesh Karthik Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: BCCI) Dinesh Karthik was one of the more reliable batters in the middle for India in the 2018 Asia Cup. He scored 146 runs in six matches at an average of 48.66 and a top score of 44. He also played a crucial hand of 37 runs in the final. Karthik also went on to play in the ODI World Cup the following year in England and also appeared in the semifinal against the Kiwis. He has not played in ODIs ever since; and today, it is safe to say that the wicketkeeper-batter is a one-format player. In 2022, Karthik is having the best year in his T20 career and is one of the best finishers in the format at the moment. After a successful IPL season with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), he forced a comeback to the national team after almost three years. He has made a strong case for himself to get a spot in the Asia Cup as well as the T20 World Cup squad.

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India's Asia Cup 2018 squad - Where are they now?

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