'He isn't there for West Indies tour': Rahul Tripathi gets unwavering support from ex-India star despite ‘ordinary IPL’

The BCCI announced the squad for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, which is scheduled to be held in September-October this year. With part of the tournament overlapping with the start of the ODI World Cup being hosted by India, the players named will not likely be in contention for a spot in the showpiece event.

Nevertheless, for certain players, the Asian Games can act as a step to represent the nation and make an argument for why they deserve to be in the main squad. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra discussed the same on his YouTube channel, where he explained the selection choices made and what that could spell for members of the team, especially the batting core.

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In particular, Chopra spoke about Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his debut for India in the Dominica Test against the West Indies and was unsurprisingly impressive with an innings of 171 at the top of the order.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal - it is a beautiful situation. The guy scored a century on Test debut, you have not kept him in the ODI list, so he is a part of the Asian Games,” said Chopra. The Asian Games are to be played in the T20 format.

“He is not in the ODI race currently, whether it is the Asia Cup or the World Cup. However, over the next eight to ten months, I won't be surprised if he is pushing in all formats.”

Jaiswal was in scintillating form in the IPL season for the Rajasthan Royals, and along with his red-ball form for Mumbai, earned a call-up for both the Test series and the T20I series in the Caribbean.

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However, he isn’t involved in the ODI squad, where Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad are being preferred ahead of him. But given Jaiswal’s youth and the talent that is clearly present, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the southpaw being considered for all the formats in future.

Chopra also spoke about some other batters involved in the Asian Games squad, which will be led by Gaikwad in China.

“He is not there for the West Indies tour but it is absolutely right to invest in Rahul Tripathi despite him having a bad IPL because before that you had played him for India. If you forget him after an ordinary IPL, it seems like you are not doing the right thing. Tilak Varma, who is a part of the team for the West Indies tour, is a part of this team - makes a lot of sense.”

Despite finishing as the second-highest run-scorer in the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp, Tripathi could only muster 273 runs from 13 encounters, which featured a solitary half-century.

Finally, Chopra spoke about Rinku Singh, whose finishing exploits in the IPL shot him into fame, and earned him a maiden call-up. As per Chopra, he is the biggest story from the squad announcement.

“Rinku Singh has finally made it. It was a topic of discussion that he is not coming into the team. So his name has come. I think it is the biggest story that you will finally see him playing for India even if it is in the Asian Games.”

The Asian Games begin on September 23, and will go on till October 8. Cricket has featured at the Asian Games twice – in 2010 and 2014, but India didn't participate on either occasions. Bangladesh had won the men’s cricket gold in 2010 at Guangzhou while Sri Lanka finished top in the following edition, four years later.