NEW DELHI: India batsmen Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have been recalled to the Twenty20 squad for the Asia Cup but seamer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out due to injury, the country’s cricket governing body BCCI said on Monday.

Former captain Kohli and Bumrah were left out of the T20 squad for the five-match series against West Indies, which India went on to win 4-1 on Sunday.

Kohli has endured a lean run of form across all formats and the 33-year-old is without a century in international cricket since November 2019.

Rahul returns to the squad after a lengthy period on the sidelines following a groin injury and Covid-19 diagnosis. He will be Rohit Sharma’s deputy.

Harshal Patel is also not available for selection due to injury, while Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.

India are defending champions at the Asia Cup, which will be played from Aug 27-Sept 11 in the UAE. They will open their campaign against arch-rivals and neighbours Pakistan in a blockbuster Sunday clash.

The tournament, which serves as preparation for the Asian sides in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup later this year, was shifted to the UAE last month due to the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka, who retain the hosts’ honour.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2022