Asia Cup 2023: Bumrah, Pandya to be rested for Bangladesh game, Tilak Varma likely to debut - Reports

Team India will rest several first-team players against Bangladesh in their last Asia Cup Super Four tie on Friday, September 15. The Men in Blue were the first team to qualify for the Asia Cup final after beating Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Against Bangladesh in the dead rubber in Colombo, India could rest seamers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, bringing in Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna in their place.

The latest reports suggest that vice-captain Hardik Pandya could also be rested while bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur could return for his third game match of Asia Cup 2023.

Though none of the top three - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli is likely to make way for anyone, chances of watching non-regular faces in the middle order in this game are higher.

KL Rahul, who returned to the ODI XI for the first time since March this year, scored a hundred against Pakistan in the previous game, while Kishan also pressed his case for a spot in the side as the World Cup approaches. Besides them, Shreyas Iyer, who sweat it out in the nets in the additional session on Thursday in Colombo, might not get included in the XI due to his fitness.

In this case, if the management decides to rest both KL and Kishan, star T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav and debutant Tilak Varma could be seen taking care of middle-order duties.

While SKY, as most of Suryakumar fans call him, has received backing from several former cricketers over straightaway breaking into the XI during the mega event, he would love to bank on it and convert it into a star performance.

It could also mean that Tilak Varma, the future superstar, could begin his ODI journey on a grand stage like the Asia Cup.

Benched players to be tried

While Shami and Krishna are likely to get a game against Bangladesh, the star performer in the bowling department - Kuldeep Yadav, will retain his place in the XI alongside Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, both of whom played against Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, India will face the winner of the Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan match in Super Four in Colombo in the final on September 17.

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