Why Sanju Samson, Umran Malik, Ishan Kishan would be happy to not find place in India’s Asian Games squad

The men’s cricket competition will take place from 28th September to 8th October in a T20 format. All the matches will be played at Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been appointed the captain of the young Indian cricket team which features Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Tripathi, Arshdeep Singh and Washington Sundar among others.

Sanju Samson, Umran Malik, Deepak Chahar and Ishan Kishan haven’t been picked in the squad. However, they would not complain much about it. Their omission signals towards a bigger picture for them – a place in the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup which starts from October 5 in Ahmedabad.

India will play their first match against Australia in Chennai on October 8 – the day cricket competition ends at the Asian Games 2022. Quite naturally those playing at the Asian Games in China will have the minimal chance of being named in the squad for the ICC marquee event.

The absence of Sanju Samson and Umran Malik from the Asian Games squad is a clear hint that the two players are in contention to play for India in the World Cup 2023.

Sanju Samson has a great chance as fitness of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer is a major concern. Also, despite not playing many matches for India, Samson is a player of high class and calibre.

His vast experience of playing alongside world class players in the IPL for over a decade now can come handy in the home conditions. He has surpassed Gaikwad and Jaiswal in the pecking order and can be named alongside Rahul and Ishan Kishan in the squad.

Umran Malik’s speed can be a boon on the slow spin-friendly pitches in India. He has been named in the ODI squad for the West Indies series as well. The selectors and the Indian team management could very well be seeing the Jammu and Kashmir pacer as a backup up for injured Jasprit Bumrah who hasn’t played any form of cricket for almost a year now.

For now Umran is definitely ahead of Arshdeep, who has been named in the Asian Games squad, in the pecking order for pacers who can make a cut in India World Cup squad.

Gaikwad and Jaiswal not in contention for World Cup 2023?

While Ruturaj Gaikwad has found a place in the ODI squad for the three games against West Indies, Yashasvi Jaiswal has just been named in the Test and T20I squad. The 21-year-old is definitely not going to be named in the World Cup.

Gaikwad can find a place only if there is an injury to any of the openers. Notably, India have an abundance of openers in the ODI format currently. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan – all can open. This could be the reason why selectors named Gaikwad and Jaiswal in the Asian Games squad.

The same can be said for Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar who have fallen behind in the race in the presence of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.