Ruturaj Gaikwad and Harmanpreet Kaur have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading the Indian men's and women's cricket teams, respectively, in the 19th Asian Games. BCCI made the announcement, revealing squads that will participate in the prestigious tournament. Women cricket matches will be held from September 19 to 28, and men's matches will start on 28 September 2023 and end on 8 October 2023. Both tournaments will be played in T20 format.
The men's team, captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad, includes talented players such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, and others. The team has backup players on standby, including Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, and Sai Sudarsan. Rinku Singh, who faced questions regarding his exclusion from the T20 series in the Caribbean, has made the cut. The team also features notable performers from the Indian Premier League (IPL), such as Rahul Tewatia, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, and Prabhsimran Singh. Shivam Dube, who played a crucial role in Chennai Super Kings' fifth IPL title win, has also been selected.
Meanwhile, the women's team will be led by the experienced Harmanpreet Kaur, with Smriti Mandhana serving as her deputy. The team also includes talented players like Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma. The squad has backup players, including Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque, and Pooja Vastrakar. Notably, young pacer Titas Sadhu, who impressed during India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's World Cup in South Africa, has been added to the squad. Spinners Minnu Mani and Anusha Bareddy, who are currently in Bangladesh, have also been included. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, who couldn't join the Bangladesh tour due to fitness issues, is now back and ready to make a strong comeback.
Cricket was part of Asian Games in 2010 & 2014, but India did not field a team. But cricket has made a comeback to the program for the Hangzhou Games after being left out of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. The decision to include cricket was delayed due to China's zero-Covid policy, which led to the postponement of the Games. The BCCI had previously cited prior commitments as the reason for not entering teams for the continental mega-event. This year is special as both men & women teams will be part of the Asian Games.
The BCCI has done this before too. In 1998, India had two teams - one for the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and another for the Sahara Cup against Pakistan. In 2021, we witnessed two separate Indian cricket teams in action. One team, led by Shikhar Dhawan, competed in Sri Lanka, while another team, captained by Virat Kohli, played a Test series against England in the United Kingdom.
With the squads for various sports already announced by their respective national sports federations (NSFs), India has now finalized its cricket teams for the Asian Games. Fans can look forward to an exciting tournament as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Harmanpreet Kaur lead India's men's and women's cricket teams in their quest for success at the 19th Asian Games.