Let’s breakdown India Asia Cup 2023 squad, which is basically India’s 18-member preliminary World Cup 2023 squad, given that the first World Cup warm map match is on September 29th.
Here is a quick preview: India is going with experience to help them go all the way in this upcoming World Cup.
Let’s dive right in.
Key Takeaways from India Asia Cup 2023 ODI Squad Announcement
The average age of India Asia Cup 2023 squad is 29.2. India is going with a squad that has lots of experience but there are a couple of new faces as well. They have youngsters like Tilak Verma (21), Shubman Gill (23), and Ishan Kishan (25), On the other end of the spectrum, we havestalwarts like Virat Kohli (34) and Rohit Sharma (36).
The 18-member India’s preliminary World Cup squad has average ODI match experience of 74 ODIs. Virat Kohli (275), Rohit Sharma (244) & Ravindra Jadeja (177) are their most experienced players, while Tilak Verma is yet to debut in international ODIs.
India’s squad composition is as follows: 9 proper batters (1 part time off spinner), 4 all-rounders, and 5 proper bowling options. In total, India has 10 bowling options (1 off spin, 2 left arm spin, 1 left arm wrist spin, and 6 right arm pace) in their squad if absolutely needed. India do not have a proper off-spinner, leg-spinner, or left arm pace bowler.
India has 2 left-handed batting options (Kishan, Verma) and three wicketkeeping options.
Usually with India’s squads, you have a feeling of how the campaign is going to go.
This time, I cannot really say. With an overkill of cricket, ODIs have been squeezed out of the ODI calendar.
Add to that, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna are just coming out of injury, Tilak Verma has not played a single ODI, and Shami hasn’t played for a while. At the same time, there is discussion about who didnt’t make the squad, Yuzvendra Chahal & one of the off-spin options.
This is still a great squad, with a mix of youth & experience. My only concern is the lack of match time, recurring injuries, and relative instability.
But with home advantage, you never know. Can India repeat the magic of 2011? Have your say in the comments below!
Frequently Asked Questions – India Asia Cup 2023 Squad
What is the average age of India’s 2023 Cricket World Cup squad?
The average age of India Asia Cup 2023 squad is 29.2. India is going with a squad that has lots of experience but there are a couple of new faces as well. They have youngsters like Tilak Verma (21), Shubman Gill (23), and Ishan Kishan (25), On the other end of the spectrum, we havestalwarts like Virat Kohli (34) and Rohit Sharma (36).
Who is selected for India’s 2023 Cricket World Cup and India Asia Cup 2023 squad?
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (WK), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak and Sanju Samson (reserves) have made it in India’s 2023 Cricket World Cup squad.
Can India win the 2023 ODI World Cup?
Yes, India can win the 2023 ODI World Cup if they make full use of home conditions and home injuries do not occur anymore.
Will Bumrah play the 2023 ODI World Cup?
Yes, it seems that Jasprit Bumrah has recovered from his injury and will play in the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup. Bumrah has been selected for the 2023 Asia Cup squad.
Now is the time for the moment of truth. Who was the closest? Were there any major surprises? Let’s find out.
The Results
Before we dive to the winners, here are the results from this year’s IPL.
#OrangeCap:
Jos Buttler (863 Runs) RR
KL Rahul (616) LSG
Quinton de Kock (508) LSG
#PurpleCap:
Yuzvendra Chahal (27 wickets) RR
Wanindu Hasaranga (26 wickets) RCB
Kagiso Rabada (23 wickets) PBKS
#Winner: Gujarat Titans
#Top4: GT, RR, RCB, LSG
#EmergingPlayer: Umran Malik
#SurprisePackage: Gujarat Titans team surprising everybody, Dinesh Karthik 4.0, Mohsin Khan, Rajat Patidar, Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, David Miller 3.0, Umran Malik, Jitesh Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed 2.0, Dewald Brevis, Tim David towards the end, Arshdeep Singh’s death over accuracy, captain Hardik Pandya, Rishi Dhawan providing balance to PBKS, SRH’s streaks of wins & losses, R Sai Kishore seamlessly going from SMAT greatness to IPL, R Ashwin being R Ashwin (retired out, promoted to #3, finishing games off, bowling behind the umpire, etc.)
#BrokenDream: Virat Kohli & Kane Williamson underwhelm, RCB so near so far yet again, Evin Lewis’ catch crushes Rinku Singh led KKR revival, Buttler 863 fails to break the 973 record, MI/CSK end at the bottom, KL Rahul on the losing side once again despite runs
Other IPL Awards
Most Valuable Player: Jos Buttler
Super Striker: Dinesh Karthik (183 SR)
Game Changer: Jos Buttler
Fastest Delivery: Lockie Ferguson (157.3 kph)
Perfect Catch: Evin Lewis (KKR vs LSG)
FairPlay Award: GT & RR
How Prediction Points Were Awarded
Depending on how many predictions you attempted, there were a total of 11/12 points up for grab. Here is the points breakdown:
Orange/Purple Cap: 2 Points for the Exact Answer, 1 Points for someone else in the Top 3
For example, you would get 2 points if you had predicted Buttler/Chahal for the orange/purple cap respectively, 1 point for KL Rahul or QDK/Hasaranga or Rabada, and 0 otherwise
Top4: 4 Points Total, +1 for each of the play-off participants
Emerging Player/Surprise Package: Since there were several uncapped players who performed above expectations this time around (and since there were 0 predictions for Umran Malik), any reasonable guess will get a point (examples in the #SurprisePackage list above)
IPL 2022 Prediction Results Part 1
For the first part, we look at predictions from the Subtle Curry SportsFacebook group.
#BrokenDream: Russell/Narine duo struggle & MSD Retires Forever ❌
Well IPL 2022 was fun while it lasted. Now on to international cricket. Test cricket, ODI Super leagues, women’s cricket, and the build up to the T20 World Cup. Stay tuned!
1st. The same old story. Champions for a 5th time. Another wonderful campaign. Here are some of the highlights.
Suryakumar Yadav & Ishan Kishan storm into national spotlight after consistent performances. Add Quinton de Kock’s blazing starts & a certain Rohit Sharma and that was an enviable top order.
The better the finishers, the more consistent a T20 side. Finishing prowess of Kieron Pollard & Hardik Pandya justifies this claim.
James Pattinson, Jasprit Bumrah, & Trent Boult provided the firepower that the fast bowling bowling needed in sluggish UAE pitches.
Injury & COVID-19 News
No major injury or COVID-19 news for the Mumbai Indians as of yet, but cases in Mumbai are rising rapidly. The Road Safety Series in Mumbai has several former cricketers in quarantine. Fingers crossed, but keep checking your news if any local Mumbai players join the MI squad.
How can an already dangerous line-up become even more dangerous? Instead of adding another foreign pace bowler, maybe Jimmy Neesham can slot in at #8. The Pollard-Pandyas-Neesham finishing line up can be quite something.
Watch Out For
Adam Milne, the New Zealand speedstar of 2015 World Cup fame, went missing for a couple of years due to injuries. He has slowly made a comeback in the New Zealand squad through the Big Bash, but can he light up the IPL?
With 11 games in Chennai-Delhi-Kolkata combined, spin will be very handy. Expect Rahul Chahar to be among the wickets. Since Krunal Pandya is more of a batting-allrounder, we may see a bit of Piyush Chawla and Jayant Yadav. Before the final that is.
Where Can Things Go Wrong For the Indians?
Mumbai play first 5 matches at Chennai. While familiarity can be a good thing, let us look at the opposition—strong RCB & Punjab sides and games against spin giants SRH (Rashid, Mujeeb, Nabi), DC (Ashwin, Axar, Amit Mishra), & KKR (Shakib, Varun, Harbhajan, Kuldeep, Pawan Negi).
I am betting against Mumbai Indians for their ‘home’ venues.
Venues & Fixtures
Venues
Chennai- 5, Delhi- 4, Bangalore- 3, Kolkata- 2
Fixtures
9 April: MI vs RCB (Chennai)
13 April: KKR vs MI (Chennai)
17 April: MI vs SRH (Chennai)
20 April: DC vs MI (Chennai)
23 April: PBKS vs MI (Chennai)
29 April: MI vs RR (Delhi)
1 May: MI vs CSK (Delhi)
4 May: SRH vs MI (Delhi)
8 May: RR vs MI (Delhi)
10 May: MI vs KKR (Bangalore)
13 May: MI vs PBKS (Bangalore)
16 May: CSK vs MI (Bangalore)
20 May: RCB vs MI (Kolkata)
23 May: MI vs DC (Kolkata)
25 May: Qualifier 1 (Ahmedabad)
26 May: Eliminator (Ahmedabad)
28 May: Qualifier 2 (Ahmedabad)
30 May: Final (Ahmedabad)
Prediction
Mumbai Indians always seem to bounce back after rough campaign starts. Given the schedule in IPL 2021, I think if they lose 3 or more of the first five, I do not think they can bounce back.
For a change, I am going for a different IPL winner this time around. They will probably win again, but for the fun of it, I have them winning from the reverse order this time.
Prediction
8th
Most Runs
Suryakumar Yadav
Most Wickets
Rahul Chahar
Emerging Player
Marco Jansen
Surprise Package
Jimmy Neesham
X Factor
Kieron Pollard, the leader
Broken Cricket Dream
Third Time…Is Not the Charm. May not win this time
Also, Chris Lynn. Someone of his calibre might have to warm the benches two seasons in a row.
Mumbai Indians Preview Predictions
What do you think of the Mumbai Indians Preview? Your First XI? Will they make the IPL 2021 qualifiers?
India Vs Australia – a friendly evenly contested series.
India revived their 1992 jersey, and the tour started accordingly with twin defeats via the brilliance of Steven Smith. This tour will be remembered for the Australia media’s fascination for ‘King’ Kohli, international fielding of grade-school standards, emergence of Hardik Pandya, the Jadeja-Chahal concussion fiasco, and Wade’s non-review.
Australia, on the other hand, erased the poor IPL 2020 memories. Aaron Finch, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell – all came back with a bang. Good performances by youngsters and comeback kids as well.
Here are my picks for the best moments of the series, the emerging players, and where these two teams go from here? COMMENT BELOW ON YOUR FAVORITE MOMENTS.
India still have not solved their middle muddle. Shreyas Iyer returned with scores of 2, 38, 19, 12*, and 0 across formats. None of India’s batsman bowl and none of the bowlers bat well. The #4 position and the 6th bowling option is still a major worry.
Chahal leaked 89 & 71 runs and was eventually dropped for the third. Although he was the man of the match in the first T20I, it is still a matter of concern in the flat ODI pitches. Time to bring Kul-Cha back together?
First time since 2008 that Virat Kohli has not registered a century. Came close with a 89 and 63, but 2020 has just been that kind of year.
Shardul Thakur has a knack of taking wickets as we can see from his 3/51 in the 3rd ODI.
T20Is
Although Sanju Samson gave India impetus with innings like 23(14) and 15(9), it was just not enough. With the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav in the background, Samson may not have too long of a rope.
Hardik Pandya dedicated his Player of Series award to T. Natarajan and deservingly so. Although Pandya finished things off, Natarajan’s 3/30, 2/20, and 1/33 were crucial to limit India’s targets.
India have found a balance in the finishing power. If one of the top order batsmen fail to finish the chase, Pandya will. If Pandya fails, Jadeja will.
In 2016, Manish Pandey was among the rising stars scoring an unbeaten century in a 300+ run chase. Forward to 2020. Did not get a game in the ODIs and struggled in his only T20I opportunity – 2 (8).
Australia
ODIs
Steven Smith famously said a month ago that he “found his hand.” He was not joking as he displayed with scores of 105and 104 in just around 62 balls both innings. WOW.
Glenn Maxwell could not hit a fly in IPL 2020. Put the Australia jersey on and boy, was he on fire? The entire 2 months of IPL – 0 sixes. 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is – 16 sixes in total including quickfire 45(19), 63*(29), 59 (38), 54 (36), 22 (13) across formats. Australia have found their finisher.
Although Smith & Maxwell were the catalyst, the solid platform provided by Aaron Finch with 2-100s and 1-50. He is growing in his captaincy role as well.
Does Australia have a Mitchell Starc problem? 1/65, 0/82, & wide balls does not reflect the stature of Starc.
The leggie Mitchell Swepson joins the party. His 1st wicket of the series? None other than Virat Kohli.
Moises Henriques made a comeback with important contributions with both bat and ball. In the 2nd T20I – 3/22 in his 4 overs along with a 30(20) got Australia close to the target.
We like to spice things up with our own awards for the series. Here they are:
Australia
India
Emerging Player
Mitchell Swepson
T Natarajan
Surprise Package
Matthew Wade/ Moises Henriques
Ravindra Jadeja + Hardik Pandya
Broken Cricket Dream
D’Arcy Short
Manish Pandey
Who would have been your Emerging Player? Surprise Player? Broken Cricket Dream? Let us know below WITH COMMENTS! Also please subscribe!
Where Do They Go From Here?
Earlier I had predicted 2-1 India for the ODIs and 2-1 Australia for the T20Is. The results were reversed, but this India Vs Australia series had closed contests regardless. By no means, did these teams perform at their bests. They have a lot to ponder over, especially heading into the Border-Gavaskar Test series and the World T20 next year.
In limited overs, India have to fix their middle over phase – both in batting style and the bowling combinations. For the test series, India have an Ishant Sharma size hole along with concussion/injury issues for Jadeja and Rohit Sharma.
Australia’s injury woes are at another level. First Stoinis and Warner in the limited overs series. Then, the debutant Green and Will Pucovski with concussions during the warm-up games and now even Steven Smith has a soar back. Here is the complete list:
We will do a World T20 Watch from now till the world cup next year. Here is our predicted T20 XI line up as of now based on this series. Several ifs and buts at this point, but it will get clearer along the journey.
India’s limited overs selections need a rethink. ODIs and T20Is are now separate entities and hence, need different criteria. Gone are the days of the three format players barring a couple from each team.
Each position needs a specific role with a like-for-like understudy. Here is my World T20 XI for India as of now:
