Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma pose for selfies with fans ahead Asia Cup 2023

Star India cricketers Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma engaged with paparazzi and clicked a few pictures with the fans ahead of the crucial Asia Cup 2023. The ACC event is slated to kickstart on August 30, and India will hold a training camp from August 24 before travelling to Sri Lanka.

In addition to this, it is understood that 14 net bowlers have been recruited in order to ensure the ‘quality of practice sessions’ in the five-day skill-enhancement camp, which will include the entire squad travelling to Sri Lanka for the event. Leaving for the team’s camp in Alur, Karnataka, skipper Rohit and Kohli were seen interacting with fans and posing for selfies at the airport.

Speaking about their campaign in the ACC event, the Men in Blue will play their first match against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on September 2. 

KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer to return from injuries

It is worth mentioning that Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, who were confined to the sidelines after sustaining injuries, will make their return to the ODI setup for the competition. Notably, Bumrah and Krishna returned to international cricket after a long hiatus in the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Ireland.

Rohit will continue leading the side, whereas Hardik Pandya has been named his deputy for the Asia Cup. Furthermore, the Asia Cup will serve as a dress rehearsal for the eagerly-anticipated ODI World Cup, which begins on October 5. Rohit Sharma and Co. will look to strengthen their game in certain areas and further aim to obtain a balanced setup for the big-ticket event.

India's Asia Cup 2023 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Sanju Samson (travelling reserve).