Asia Cup 2018: Manish Pandey to get final nod as BCCI prepares to announce squad

The selectors for the Indian cricket team is set to have a meeting shortly as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is scheduled to announce the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2018 on Saturday (today). The selectors will have tough time in selecting the final squad for the Asia Cup as most players who had played on the England tour in the limited overs format impressed many including fans and pundits, while, the India A and India B players have also excited the audience with their performances and Manish Pandey is one of the big names to make a case for himself after the Quadrangular A team series.

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Pandey have struggled to make a permanent spot for himself in the playing XI since making his debut three years ago. He was denied a spot in the XI for the T20Is against England due to his unimpressive 21 runs in two T20s against Ireland.

The Karnataka batsman was left out from the India A squad in the Quadrangular team series but was asked to lead the India B team against Australia A, South Africa A and other home teams and he did the talking with the bat as he scored an unbeaten 95 against the Aussies and was pillar behind India B’s final chase against Australia A with a knock of 73 not out.

He remained unbeaten in his last four matches and notched up 306 runs.

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Other possible changes might be the exclusion of Dinesh Karthik in place of the flamboyant Rishabh Pant. However, Karthik has not put a foot wrong in the limited-overs format. But he has just played one ODI in England and his poor form with the bat could be the reason behind his exclusion.

Mayank Agarwal is another name that could make the cut in the final squad after his impressive performances for the India B team.

The Men in Blue will play the first match in the 2018 Asia Cup on September 18 and will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan on September 19.