Harshal Patel has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to injury, which is set to start in the United Arab Emirates from August 27, in which India will take on Pakistan in Dubai on August 28.
BCCI said in a statement that Bumrah and Patel were undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. The absence of strike pacer Bumrah is a big setback for India.
Vice-captain K.L. Rahul will return to action in May for the first time since the Indian Premier League. Kohli was rested after India’s tour of England ended in mid-July and has played just four T20Is and scored 81 runs since the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year. He also scored 341 runs in the IPL last season at a strike rate of 116.
India’s selectors dropped Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav and Sanju Samson, who were part of the series against West Indies. Leg spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Hooda have been retained along with pacers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
India, Pakistan and a qualifier will face Group A in the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are in Group B. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong will compete in a qualifying tournament in Oman from 20 August, with the winner joining India and Pakistan in Group A.
The first and second placed teams from each group will qualify for the Super 4 series, a round-robin to determine the two teams that will meet in the final on 11 September.
Sri Lanka was the official host of the tournament after the Asia Cup, although the venue has been moved away from the island nation due to the economic crisis.
Rohit Sharma (Captain), K.L. Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan