5 Players who deserved to be in the Indian squad for Asia Cup 2022

India has announced the squad for the Asia Cup 2022. In a good piece of news for the Indian fans, senior batters KL Rahul and Virat Kohli are back on the team. Apart from that, the senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah will not be a part of the squad as he sustained a back injury recently.

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So, young pacer Arshdeep Singh is set to replace Bumrah for the continental tournament. But there are also some talented players who should have been picked in the squad but the selectors ignored them while selecting a team for the tournament.

So, here we’ll have a look at the five players who truly deserved a place in the Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2022.

Sanju Samson

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Sanju Samson (Image Credit: Twitter)

The talented wicketkeeper-batter came into the limelight nine years back with his stellar performances in the 2013 edition of the Indian T20 League. Following that, he has performed well on numerous occasions. He has also some fine outings for his franchise Rajasthan in the 2022 edition of the Indian T20 League.

Samson has also performed well in a recent couple of matches for India including the Ireland tour followed by the England and West Indies tours. He was the one who deserved a place in the squad of the men’s T20 Asia Cup but the Indian selectors went on to sideline him from the team.

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The 27-year-old might be a triumph card for the men in blue in the T20 World Cup which they will participate in later in the dusk of this year.

Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj, Virat Kohli (Image Credit: Twitter)

It’s quite a bit strange to see that a player who made his T20I debut in 2017 has played only 5 matches till 2022 during five years of his career. Siraj has proved his worth for the Indian side in a couple of crucial situations. He played a vital role in India’s win in the three-match ODI series on the recently-concluded tour. It was all thanks to his bowling in the last over of the first ODI that the Indians sealed a victory against the men in maroon.

Siraj has the capabilities to trouble any batting line-up in the world with his amazing skills in pace bowling. He can be a great card for the captain to play in either part of the innings, be it powerplay overs, middle-overs, or the slog overs.

The Hyderabad-based pace bowling prodigy deserved a place in the squad on the grounds of his bowling heroics in limited-overs cricket in the last couple of assignments.

Axar Patel

The hero of India’s most crucial win in the second of the three-match ODI series. Axar Patel delivered fully up to the expectations during the recently-concluded tour of the West Indies. He played a vital role for the men in blue in crucial situations when the team needed the most. Axar made his first appearance in the T20Is back in the year 2014. Since then, he has contributed both with the bat and the ball.

Considering his current form, the 28-year-old was in strong contention to secure a berth for the Asia Cup 2022 in the Indian squad. But the selectors overlooked him and didn’t pick him for India’s next assignment at the end of this month. Some cricket experts and fans have also suggested that Axar could have been a better choice instead of Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad.

Deepak Chahar

Deepak Chahar ( Image Credit: Twitter)

The Agra-born pacer sustained an injury during the 2022 Indian T20 League and subsequently, he was ruled out of the league. Due to the recovery process and rehabilitation, he couldn’t even take part in international cricket for a few months. The 30-year-old pacer has proved his importance for the team since his T20I debut in 2018. Bowling in 20 matches of his T20I, Deepak has scalped 26 wickets with the best bowling figures of six wickets in a match by conceding only seven runs.

He has recently recovered from the injury and started practicing in the nets in some practice matches. He could have been a great element for the men in blue in the Asia Cup 2022 but the selectors didn’t give him a chance to make a comeback in the Indian squad.

Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan ( Image Credit: BCCI/IPL)

Young wicketkeeper-batter who has been a sensation since the conclusion of the 2022 Indian T20 League. Ishan Kishan had some amazing outings for the new entrants Lucknow in the tournament including an unbeaten opening stand of 210 runs with the skipper KL Rahul in a match against Mumbai. Following that, he has also played some good knocks for the Indian team as well.

He could have given good stuff in the top-order batting in the crucial matches during the Asia Cup 2022. Notably, Ishan was also a part of the Indian team on the tour of the West Indies, but he didn’t get a chance to play that many matches to prove himself. And without even assessing his performance, the selectors ignored the youngster while it was to select the squad for the continental tournament.