Asian Games Clash Gives India ODI Headache, Opens Door For Rishabh Pant And Yashasvi Jaiswal

India’s packed calendar has created a unique selection challenge, with the Asian Games campaign set to overlap with the three-match ODI series against the West Indies. The West Indies ODIs begin on September 27, while India’s men’s cricket campaign at the Asian Games gets underway with the quarter-final on September 28, forcing the selectors to manage two parallel squads.

Asian Games takes away key ODI options

Shreyas Iyer will lead India at the Asian Games, with several players from the recent ODI setup also part of the squad. With India gold medal favourites, a strong squad has been named with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh and Ishan Kishan expected to be unavailable for the IND vs WI ODI series. That could force the Ajit Agarkar and the selectors to look beyond their preferred ODI combination when they meet around September 17.

Who stands to benefit?

The absence of Ishan could bring Rishabh Pant back into the ODI picture. Pant has been part of India’s ODI squads, including the Champions Trophy group, but has struggled to get a game, while Dhruv Jurel is also in contention for the second wicketkeeper’s role behind KL Rahul. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal, both who have centuries in ODIs in the last 12 months, could get game time. A case for Tilak Varma could also be made.

With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill adding considerable star power to the West Indies series, the ODIs could simultaneously serve as an important audition for players fighting for places in India’s World Cup squad.