Rahul Dravid drops major 'Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul' hint for Asia Cup, World Cup after India's horror defeat in WI T20Is

A horror loss befell Team India in Florida as for the first time in over 17 years they lost a bilateral series (minimum three matches) against West Indies. Standing on the verge of a historic win after bouncing back from 0-2 down in the T20I contest, India were hammered by a stellar 107-run stand between Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King as the hosts, who failed to make the T20 World Cup last year, sealed an eight-wicket win with 12 balls to spare. With the defeat happening a fortnight before the start of the Asia Cup, fans have been left concerned over the position of the Indian team who had only survived a similar fate in the ODI contest as well earlier this week. But head coach Rahul Dravid, after admitting to the shortcomings, delivered a stunning news for Asia Cup and World Cup.

One of the major concern for the Indian ODI side has been the middle order. In the absence of injured stars in Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya have struggled with the management seemingly puzzled over the line-up after their experiments in the West Indies contest bore no result.

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What left fans further worried was reports claiming that Iyer and Rahul will miss the Asia Cup as well owing to their extended period of recovering. However, on Sunday, Dravid revealed that both the star batters are set for a comeback in the Asia Cup.

In his final question in the post-match interview, Dravid was asked whether by a reporter from Nepal on India will look to experiment in the match against his country in Asia Cup and the batting legend replied hinted that the likes of Iyer and Rahul, who will be coming back, will get a chance first as the team builds towards the ODI World Cup.

“We have a few guys coming back from injury so we first have to give them opportunities to play. To be really honest, I haven't given a thought about Asia Cup at this stage,” he said.

India to hold Asia Cup camp at NCA

Dravid further revealed that India's Asia Cup probables will be assembling at the NCA in Bengaluru exactly a week later to gear up for the tournament before leaving for Sri Lanka.

“We have some time off and then will have a camp at the NCA in Bengaluru from the 23rd. We will be assembling as a one-day team there to prepare for the Asia Cup. We will take it as it comes,” he added.

India will open their Asia Cup campaign against Pakistan on September 2 in Pallekel before facing Nepal on September 4 as part of their group stage matches.