India fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were excluded from India’s squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 competition as the BCCI selection committee announced their 15-man line-up for the competition, which will start on August 27.

Both are very crucial part of team India’s T20 side but their injuries ahead of the big tournament forced them out of the competition, clarifies BCCI.

Bumrah has been struggling with some back problems while Harshal had reportedly suffered a side strain during the recently concluded West Indies series.

Harshal previously missed the second and third Twenty20 Internationals of the current series against West Indies due to a rib injury. While Bumrah, hadn’t played for India since the ODI away series in England, he was given limited-overs series against the West Indies and the next one against Zimbabwe.

“Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru,” said BCCI in their statement.

The 15th edition of the prestigious event tournament will be played in the UAE between six teams, starting August 27. With five teams already being qualified for the main event (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan), one remaining spot will be grabbed by any from the four team (UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait), based on their results in qualifiers, which are reportedly to start on August 21.

India will start the campaign as the defending champions. The Indian side are the most successful team in this tournament so far, having won the title on seven occasions.

The last edition of Asia Cup was held in an ODI format in 2018, while this time the Asian Cricket Council opted to conduct the tournament T20 format, as part of T20 World Cup preparation.

The six teams are split into two groups: Group A includes India, Pakistan, and a qualifying team; Group B includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

The top two teams from each group advance to the Super 4 round after each team playing the other once in the group round. The top two teams from the Super 4 will qualify for the final.

India’s squad for Asia Cup 2022:

Batters: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda

Wicket-keepers: Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja

Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan