The Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2012 has been announced, and the man out of the form, Virender Sehwag gets the axe as Sachin Tendulkar has been retained in the squad, for the cup that is going to be played from March 11th 2012 in Bangladesh.
Asia Cup Schedule and the way the series is designed and how the teams fight it out to get to the finals is explained here – Asia cup 2012 Schedule and details
Apart from Virender Sehwag, it is the fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav who were rested, and they would be replaced by Ashok Dinda and Vinay Kumar, while Yusuf Pathan also makes a comeback into the squad. Sachin Tendulkar has been a curious case for the Indian selectors as it is Sachin who decides which tournaments he wants to play, and so the selectors have to select him for the Asia Cup, and this would be the second time he is playing an ODI series after the World Cup last year.
Ashok Dinda gets an entry into the team after his performance in the Ranji Trophy, where he was the second highest wicket taker, claiming 37 wickets in the six matches. Yusuf Pathan has recovered from the knee injury, but will have to struggle to get an actual position in the team, where the position of No. 7 is already being claimed well by the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Manoj Tiwary and legspinner Rahul Sharma have been included in the team, which becomes the reason for the removal of the back-up wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.
Virat Kohli has been promoted to the post of Vice Captain keeping in view his amazing performace on Tue agaainst Srilanka and the kind of form he is carrying in the Australian tour.
Indian Squad for Asia Cup:
MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda.The Indian team has been the defending champions of the Asia cup, and the tournament starts from 11th March to 22nd March, check the
Asia Cup 2012 Schedule.
