Rohit to lead India in Asia Cup as Kohli is rested

E-Paper | June 14, 2026

NEW DELHI: India’s selectors on Saturday rested prolific skipper Virat Kohli for the upcoming Asia Cup one-day cricket tournament in the UAE where arch-rivals Pakistan are also competing.

Batsman Rohit Sharma will lead the 16-member squad in Kohli’s absence during the regional six-team competition to be held from Sept 15 to 28.

“Considering the workload, we have given him [Kohli] rest,” chairman of selectors M.S.K. Prasad told reporters in Mumbai. “He has been playing continuously for quite some time. He’s on the road since the IPL (Indian Premier League)... we need to preserve some of the precious players, who are playing in all three formats.”

Kohli, 29, is currently leading the Indian side in a five-Test series in England where he has scored 486 runs so far including two centuries.

The England series ends on Sept 11, four days before the start of the Asia Cup.

And in less than a week after the Asia Cup final, India are set to play against the West Indies in a home Test series.

Before the England series, Kohli was forced to miss out on a stint with Surrey due to a neck injury and in the Lord’s Test he suffered a lower-back strain.

The selectors also picked 20-year-old uncapped left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed who has impressed in the shorter formats of the game.

Middle-order batsmen Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav were brought back after missing India’s ODI series against England.

Pacemen Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were also included with the duo having recovered from their injuries.

Among those who missed out were batsman Suresh Raina and bowler Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are the other teams in the fray in the 50-over contest. The sixth team will be decided through a qualifier being held in Malaysia.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, K.L. Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2018

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Wahab

Sep 02, 2018 10:08pm

Looks like Kohli is scared of playing Pakistan

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Joe

Sep 03, 2018 12:22am

Which side will not have a player like Kohli not playing ,but it looks like BCCI is confident that team without him is also formidable

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Sep 03, 2018 05:48am

Well done Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. You are indeed great assets for your team and have proved your mettle time and again against the most media-hyped team of the world currently visiting the United Kingdom and Ireland, with many so-called world class players but nobody who could be match winner, especially on foreign soils.

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point of view

Sep 03, 2018 08:18am

@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad, yes understood, this is your celebration time.

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Asad

Sep 03, 2018 09:49am

Good maneuver by indians to placate internal anger, in case india loss against Pakistan, bcci will sell the idea to naive indians that things would have been different had there been kohni incharge of the team, in case india wins bcci will tell pakistanis that indian team is capable to win against pakistan without their mainstay. but it is a game not politics, they should have put the best squad to come against all contestants and try to win but adopting such loser approach is negative for longer run.

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hyderali

Sep 03, 2018 11:54am

@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad - its indeed a good thing for England to have players like moen ali and adil rashid. they preferr to play for england and not pakistan. had they been in pakistan they would not have got selected in the team due to politics.

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Jay

Sep 03, 2018 01:55pm

@Asad Do u even watch cricket?. First Kohli has been struggling with injury since past 3 months due to back and neck strain. he missed playing for the county in June for Surrey. Still he gave the importance to national test team leading from the front in difficult batting condition in Engalnd test. he was struggling in 2nd test against england due to back strain. The schedule for ASIA cup is just 4 days after the england 5 test match series. with back to back matches on 18- 19th Sept, kohli has been right to rest as there is an important test series agaist Aus in Nov Dec. Without Kohli , India can win ASIA cup, but not test series in Australia. Have some sense before criticizing.

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Asad

Sep 03, 2018 04:08pm

@Jay We know Indians, they always like to hide through blame games and concocting things to favor them, what i had wrote is the best way to describe Indians, if you really have courage then start playing Pakistan and keep repent on the outcome of angers from inside due to repetitive loss.

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ali

Sep 03, 2018 09:17pm

@hyderali Dr Salaria never implied they want to Play for Pakitan?? or Pakistan wanted them? They are English players. Not quite sure what you mean?

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Surgical strike

Sep 04, 2018 01:21am

@Asad check Asia cup records India won 6 times Pakistan 2

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JACKJONES

Sep 04, 2018 05:07am

India cricket management and Kohl are smart, they need to rest their best player. They are preparing for the world cup in 2019 and eliminating the single point of failure risk. I wish Pakistan team management rested Sarfraz and gave an opportunity for a junior player to captain and lead the team.

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JACKJONES

Sep 04, 2018 05:10am

@hyderali And you know that because you are a politician?

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Observer

Sep 04, 2018 08:50pm

@Asad the famous conspiracy theories already started. Indians are not naive, they are better informed than you.

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Mahen

Sep 05, 2018 03:45am

@Asad " repent on the outcome of angers from inside due to repetitive loss." Let me refresh your memory about how the 5 meetings went prior to Pakistan's solitary victory: Apart from 14 straight wins in world cups,- Champions Trophy - India won by 124 runs T20 World Cup - India won by 6 wickets Asia Cup - India won by 5 wickets World Cup - India won by 76 runs Asia Cup - India won by 6 wickets

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