Asia Cup 2022: Rohit backs Arshdeep, Avesh to come good in absence of Bumrah, Shami

Ahead of the Asia Cup, India captain Rohit Sharma is confident that young fast bowlers Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh will deliver the goods in the absence of experienced Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

Rohit Sharma poses during the launch of his limited edition sportswear line of sustainable apparel range in collaboration with Adidas in Mumbai. | Photo Credit: AFP

Team India’s pace bowling department will revolve around young fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan in the upcoming Asia Cup, that begins from August 27.

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In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, the young fast bowlers will have the seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar and all-rounder Hardik Pandya for company.

India captain Rohit Sharma, however, is not worried about the lack of experience in the fast bowling department. 

“Look, Bumrah and Shami will not be with the Indian team forever, so you have to try and prepare the other guys. I and Rahul  bhai spoke about how we are going to create our bench strength because that’s going to be very crucial considering the amount of cricket we play, considering the injury factors and everything,” Rohit said on the sidelines of an event organised by Adidas. 

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“We never want to be a team that relies on one or two individuals, we want to be a team where everyone can contribute and help the team win on their own. We want to be that kind of a team and that’s why we want to give the youngsters as many opportunities as possible and of course, you have got senior players around them. They can be of good help,” Rohit said on Wedsday.

In 2018, India clinched the 50-over Asia Cup title under Rohit’s captaincy, and this time too, the team is confident of its success. 

India begins its campaign against Pakistan in Dubai on August 28.

“Asia Cup is happening after a long time, but we played Pakistan last year in Dubai, where obviously the result did not go our way. But the Asia Cup is different now. The team is playing differently and has prepared differently, so a lot of things have changed from then. But for us, we need to assess the conditions, keep in mind the fact that we will be playing in 40-plus degrees. We need to assess all those factors and prepare accordingly,” the Indian opener said.

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Rohit further said that as a team, they are working on a few things ahead of the Asia Cup. 

“My thought has always been that we will not focus on the opponent, but we will continue to play our game. We played against West Indies, England and in both cases, we did not think about who our opposition was, but we focused on things that we had to do as a team and what we had to achieve. Similarly, in the Asia Cup, our focus will be on what to achieve as a team and not think about who we are facing - be it Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka,” he said. 

Plans for T20 World Cup

With the T20 World Cup set to be held in Australia in October, there is not much time and Rohit insisted that about ‘80 to 90 percent’ of the team is set.

“There is still about two-and-a-half months left for the T20 World Cup. Before that, we have the Asia Cup and two home series against Australia and South Africa. So, more or less 80-90 percent of your team is set, of course there could be three-four changes if at all depending on the conditions. As of now, we have been playing in India and will play in UAE, so the conditions in Australia will be different. We need to check what suits our team in Australia,” he said.