Asia Cup 2023: KL, Iyer named in 17-man squad, Varma earns maiden ODI call-up

K L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer returned in Indias squad for the Asia Cup 2023 beginning August 31 while highlyrated youngster Tilak Varma earned a maiden callup to the oneday formatThere were question marks over the fitness of Rahul and Iyer who are making a comeback after undergoing thigh and back surgeries respectively Iyer last played in March and Rahul in MayWhile Iyer was declared fully fit by chief selector Ajit Agarkar questions remain over Rahuls fitness statusWicketkeeperbatter Sanju Samson has been added to the squad as a back up for Rahul who has developed a niggle recently informed Agarkar after announcing the squad hereIt is not the original injury There is a niggle That is why Sanju is travelling to Sri Lanka We are expecting Rahul to be fit If not the start of Asia cup may be by the second or the third game Shreyas Iyer is fully fit said Agarkar in his first media interaction since taking charge last monthPacer Prasidh Krishna who made a comeback from injury with the ongoing series in Ireland has also been included in the Asia Cup squadVarma has made the cut on the back of an impressive run in his maiden T20 series in the West Indies The 20yearold is currently with the T20 squad in IrelandLegspinner Yuzvendra Chahal was a notable omission from the squad leaving India with only one wrist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are the other spin bowling optionsAlso Read 1984 Asia Cup hero Surinder Khanna wants senior pros to up itHardik Pandya who has been named vicecaptain and Shardul Thakur are the two pace bowling allrounders while Krishna Jasprit Bumrah Mohammed Siraj and Mohammad Shami are the specialist fast bowlersXfactor batter Suryakumar Yadav has also found a place despite his underwhelming run in ODIs so farAll of Indias Asia Cup games will be played in Sri Lanka while tournament host Pakistan will get to host four games at homeAsked about Varmas inclusion in the squad as he is yet to play ODI cricket Agarkar added In West Indies we saw some real promise in terms of not just performances but the temperament And it gives us an opportunity to take him with the team give him some more exposure a lefthander again looks very promisingSo fortunately we can take 17 here itll be 15 at the World Cup So when the time comes well take that decision but at the moment it at least gives the coach and captain an opportunity to have him with the squadSitting alongside Agarkar India skipper Rohit Sharma explained the rationale behind Chahals exclusion leaving the team with no right hand offspin optionWe thought about an offspinner as well Ashwin and Washy Washington Sundar but right now you see Chahal had to miss out because we could only pick 17 players said Rohit during the media interactionThe only way we could have picked him was if one of the seamers was missing We cant do that because seamers are going to play a big role in the next two months A few of them are coming back after a long time so we wanted to have a good look at them get them in and see what they have to offerHaving said that no doors are closed on anyone Anyone can come in anytime If we feel like we need Chahal for the World Cup well see how we can squeeze him in same goes for Washy or AshwinSquad Rohit Sharma captain Shubman Gill Virat Kohli Shreyas Iyer Ishan Kishan Suryakumar Yadav Tilak Varma KL Rahul Hardik Pandya vicecaptain Jasprit Bumrah Ravindra Jadeja Shardul Thakur Axar Patel Kuldeep Yadav Mohammed Shami Mohammed Siraj Prasidh Krishna Sanju Samson back up to Rahul