Asian Games 2023: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh in Indian men's cricket team for Hangzhou

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday, announced a revised 15-member Indian men’s cricket team and five standby players for the upcoming Asian Games 2023, scheduled in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China, from September 23 to October 8.

The initial team was named in July and the latest list has one change. Shivam Mavi, who was in the initial team, has been replaced by Akash Deep in the Indian men’s cricket team for the Asian Games 2023. Mavi is recovering from a back injury and won't travel to Hangzhou.

The men’s cricket event at the Asian Games 2023, to be played in the T20 format, will take place from September 28 to October 8. All the matches will be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.

With the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup starting in India on October 5, India will be fielding largely a second-string side at the Hangzhou Games without first team-regulars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others.

The Hangzhou-bound squad, however, will feature several promising youngsters, most of them top performers in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 26-year-old Ruturaj Gaikwad, who plies his trade for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, will captain the Indian team at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, the leading wicket-taker for Punjab Kings in IPL 2023, has been included in the team. Rajasthan Royal's Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a century on debut in the ongoing Test against the West Indies, also made the cut.

Rinku Singh, whose feisty knocks for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023 made headlines this season, also earned a maiden India call-up. The Indian men's cricket team will start its Asian Games 2023 campaign from the quarter-final stage on October 3.

India have named teams – both men and women – for the Asian Games cricket competition for the first time.

Cricket has been played at the Asian Games twice before – at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014. Bangladesh won the first edition while Sri Lanka are the defending champions. Afghanistan were runners-up on both occasions.

This is the second time the men’s cricket team will play in a multi-sport event. The Indian men’s cricket team played at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in a 50-over format. The matches, however, were not accorded international status and were recorded as List A games.

Asian Games 2023 Indian men’s cricket team - full squad

Team India: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wicket-keeper), Akash Deep

Standby players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan