BCCI to announce Asia Cup, World T20 Indian squads on 5th February

The Indian squads for the upcoming Asia Cup T20I tournament in Bangladesh and the subsequent ICC World T20 in India are to be chosen on February 5 at Delhi by the national selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil. “The meeting has been scheduled on February 5 at Delhi to pick the teams for the Asia Cup and World T20 events,” Cricket Board sources told PTI on Wednesday.

India would play a three-game T20I series at home against Sri Lanka from February 9, ahead of the multi-nation T20 events. The Asia Cup is slated to be held from February 24 to March 6, after a four-team qualifying event to spot one qualifier for the tournament proper from February 19-22.

India will take on hosts Bangladesh in the tournament opener at Mirpur followed by matches against arch-foes Pakistan (Feb 27), Sri Lanka (Mar 1) and qualifiers (Mar 3). This is the first time the Asia Cup is being played in the T20 format, in a change from the earlier 50-over competitions. In the World T20, commencing on March 8, India has been seeded in the Super 10 and will play New Zealand in their opening game on March 15 at Nagpur’s VCA Stadium in Jamtha.

India has been in fine form in the shortest format recently having beaten the Aussies in their own backyard by 3-0. The team looked much more balanced compared to the one that played the ODIs prior to T20I series. The return of several experienced players has helped the team immensely while the young guns also impressed with their performances. The team will be eager to do well in the marquee event and entertain the home fans with some spectacular cricket.