Indian men’s and women’s teams will be gunning for gold when they will travel to China for the Hangzhou Asian Games, later this month. The teams led by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Harmanpreet Kaur are set to undergo preparation camps in Bengaluru starting next week.
The men’s and women’s teams will have different schedules for the training camps, and because of this, the duration of the camp for the men’s team will differ from that for the Women in Blue.
For the unversed, the Asian Games were postponed to 2023 owing to the Covid situation in China, and the latest edition will take place from September 23 to October 8.
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According to a report in Cricbuzz, the Indian men’s team is likely to be coached by NCA head VVS Laxman and the side led by Gaikwad will undergo a two-week camp in Bengaluru from September 12 to 24. The women’s team on the other hand will take part in a shorter duration camp, which will commence from September 13 to 16, a duration of only four days.
A source close to the developments was quoted as saying in the report, “This camp will be valuable for many players who will be gaining experience in a multi-sport competition like the Asian Games."
The women’s cricket competition will begin earlier than the men’s, Harmanpreet and Co. are set to depart for China on September 17, therefore, the duration of their camp has been kept short. Hrishikesh Kanitkar will oversee the progress in the women’s camp.
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The men’s cricket competition will start on September 26, and go on until October 8. On the other hand, the women’s matches will commence on September 19, and finish on the 28th. The entire cricket competition for men and women will be played in the T20 format.
All the matches are set to be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field. While the women’s competition begins on September 19, Harmanpreet’s side has been seeded directly into the quarterfinals and they will be in action from September 22.
According to the same report, no additional members and standby players are likely to travel with both teams due to strict restrictions on the number of athletes which will be allowed in the Games Village.
The Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham saw the organisers struggle to fit the extra individuals who travelled with the women’s teams and thus they had to be accommodated in private hotels. Both men’s and women’s teams have kept five players on standby.
India men’s squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk).
India women’s squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy.