Asia Cup 2023: Team India Lands in Colombo, Battle Ready

Colombo: The Indian men’s cricket team has reached Colombo for the Asia Cup 2023, with their first match against Pakistan on September 2 against arch-rivals Pakistan. Upon arrival at the Colombo airport, key players like Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya were seen engaged in conversation. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, and coach Rahul Dravid shared laughter on the bus.

Team India arrived in Colombo for the #Asiacup @BCCI @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/bDSdebu3mu

— vipul kashyap (@kashyapvipul) August 30, 2023

Unfortunately, the Indian team will miss KL Rahul in the opening game. Rahul is recovering well from an injury but will be under the supervision of the National Cricket Academy until September 4, as stated by Rahul Dravid. Dravid mentioned, “He is progressing well, but he’ll be unavailable for the initial Kandy leg. NCA will oversee him, and we’ll assess his status on September 4.”

The tournament features two groups: Group A with Pakistan, India, and Nepal, and Group B with Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. The event will follow a hybrid model, with Pakistan hosting four matches and Sri Lanka hosting the rest.

The Super Fours stage will commence on September 6, leading to the final on September 17 in Colombo between the top two Super Fours teams.

Indian Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.