On his omission from the squad for Asia Cup 2022, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan said that it is a positive thing for him as it will push him to work hard and score more runs to make his way back into the team. India named a 15-member squad for the Asia Cup earlier this week. Ishan Kishan was not included in the squad. The tournament will start from August 27 onwards, with India starting its campaign with a high-octane clash against Pakistan on August 28.
"I feel that what selectors do is fair. They put a lot of thought while selecting players as to who should be given the opportunity and where. It is a positive for me because if I am not selected, I will work harder and score more runs. When selectors will have confidence in me, they will obviously keep me in the team," said Kishan to ANI.
On India's chances at the top Asian cricketing event, Kishan said that one cannot be sure about things in cricket and sometimes it takes only two players to win a match.
Despite tough competition for spots in the team, Kishan's omission comes as a surprise to many, given that he is India's second highest-run scorer in T20I cricket this year. In 14 innings, he has scored 430 runs at an average of 30.71. He has scored three half-centuries for India this year, with a best of 89.
Shreyas Iyer is the top scorer for India in T20Is this year, having scored 449 runs in 14 games.
Kishan's last T20I outing was the fifth and final T20I of the series against West Indies in the Caribbean. In that match, he was dismissed after scoring 11 off 13 balls.
In the Indian Premier League this year, Kishan played 14 games for Mumbai Indians, in which he scored 418 runs at an average of 32.15. He scored three-half centuries for the side with the best individual score of 81*.
Coming to the Asia Cup, the 15th edition of the tournament will be played in the UAE between six teams (main event). Defending champions India are also the most successful team, having won the trophy seven times. While the last edition of the tournament was held in an ODI format, this edition will feature the T20 format.
The six teams are divided into two groups with India, Pakistan and a qualifying team in Group A; and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan forming Group B. Each team plays the other once in the group stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super 4 round. The top 2 teams from Super 4 will qualify for the final.
India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Standbys: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.