Injuries hurt participating teams in 2022 Asia Cup: Details here
The 2022 Asia Cup is all set to kickstart on August 27. Sri Lanka will be up against Afghanistan in the tournament opener, while India reignites the rivalry with Pakistan a day later. However, teams have been marred with injuries over the last few days. And, there have been replacements for the same. We look at the updated squads for the Asia Cup.
Pakistan dealt with Shaheen's ouster; Hasnain roped in as replacement
Shaheen Afridi has been ruled out of the Asia Cup owing to a knee injury. 22-year-old Mohammad Hasnain replaces him. He has the propensity to clock high speeds. Hasnain has earned appreciation with his stints in BBL, CPL, English County, and the Hundred. The right-armer has snared 17 T20I scalps at an economy of 7.90 and last featured in a T20I in December 2021.
Here is Pakistan's updated squad for Asia Cup
Pakistan's squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain.
Sri Lanka's pace attack takes a hit with Chameera's injury
Sri Lankan speedster Dushmantha Chameera will miss the tourney due to a calf. 28-year-old Nuwan Thushara has replaced him in the mix. The latter featured in the T20I series against Australia. He has claimed two scalps across four T20Is and has an economy of 9.70. However, he has strong numbers in T20s, wherein he boasts 71 scalps at 18.50.
Sri Lanka's updated squad for Asia Cup
Sri Lanka's squad: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Ashen Bandara, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwanidu Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Thushara.
Bangladesh to miss two pivotal players
Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud, who fared well on the Zimbabwe tour, will be unavailable after hurting his ankle during training last week. And wicket-keeper batter Nurul Hasan misses out after undergoing finger surgery. Left-handed batter Mohammad Naim has been added after a recent ton for Bangladesh A on the tour of WI. Naim has managed 809 T20I runs at 24.51. He has four fifties.
Presenting Bangladesh's updated squad
Bangladesh's updated squad: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Musaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahmud Ullah, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Shaif Uddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Shabbir Rahaman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mohammad Naim.
Are there any injury concerns in Team India?
India will be without the services of T20 specialists in Jasprit Bumrah (back injury) and Harshal Patel (rib injury). The duo wasn't named in the Asia Cup squad announced on August 8. Bumrah could return for the home limited-overs series against Australia and South Africa slated for September-October. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead India's young pace attack, which includes Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
India's squad for Asia Cup
India's squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Key details about the 2022 Asia Cup
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are the five confirmed teams for the 2022 Asia Cup. Besides, a qualifier between UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, and Hong Kong will decide the sixth team for the tournament. The matches at the Asia Cup will be held in the T20 format. The tournament moved from Sri Lanka to the UAE due to mass civilian protests in SL.
