"Either Shreyas Iyer or Tilak Varma": Sanjay Manjrekar Picks India's XI For Asia Cup

Asia Cup 2023 is just around the corner and the cricket fans around the world are eagerly waiting for the mouth-watering clash between India and Pakistan. The arch-rivals will be squaring off against each other in Kandy on September 2. Team India's squad for the continental event was announced on Monday, where all-rounder Hardik Pandya was named as the vice-captain. Apart from him, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have also been included in the squad, after recovering from their respective injuries.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has shared his views on India's Predicted XI for the upcoming Asia Cup. Manjrekar included Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami as the pacers and Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav as the spinners.

"My three seamers would be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. Hardik Pandya would be my fourth seamer. My spinners would be Jadeja and Kuldeep. My opener would be Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma. No. 3 batter would be Virat Kohli. KL Rahul would play because he is the keeper," said Manjrekar on ESPNCricinfo.

"Either Shreyas Iyer or Tilak Varma could play [in the middle-order]. I am saying this because in India's first-choice side XI, the first seven (six) batters, including Hardik Pandya, are all right-handers. Somewhere, India will have to fit in a left-hander in Tilak Varma. This is a problem India has," he added.

Sanjay Manjrekar's India playing XI for the Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer/ Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.