Kohli to skip Asia Cup

Star-batsman Virat Kohli will miss the upcoming Asia Cup as opener Rohit Sharma will lead India in the six-nation tournament, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Saturday, reports The Express Tribune.

Kohli will be rested for the tournament which will start from September 15 and will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Apart from Kohli, the other major absentees from the Men in Blue squad will be veteran middle-order batsman Suresh Raina and pacer Umesh Yadav, who faced the axe after disappointing performances in the recently concluded ODI series against England.

Defending champions India will play their first match on September 18, whereas the mouth-watering clash against arch-rivals Pakistan will take place on September 19.

India squad:

Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthk, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah