Asia Cup to Begin in Bangladesh From March 11; Sachin in, Sehwag Rested

The four-nation Asia Cup ODI cricket tournament will start from March 11, 2012 in Bangladesh. The other teams are Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and hosts Bangladesh.

Indian out-of-form opener Virender Sehwag was rested on "fitness grounds" while Sachin Tendulkar was included in the 15-man India cricket squad named on Wednesday, Feb. 29 for the Asia Cup.

Virat Kohli was named Mahendra Singh Dhoni's deputy in the side a day after he played the innings of his life against Sri Lanka in the CB tri-series in Australia.

Fast bowler Zaheer Khan was also given time to recuperate from a grueling tour Down Under while Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda and big-hitter Yusuf Pathan made a comeback to the side for the four-nation tournament beginning from March 11 in Bangladesh.

Indian team comprises seven specialist batsmen in Dhoni, Tendulkar, Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina while the genuine all-rounders are Ravindra Jadeja and Irfan Pathan, who has impressed with both bat and ball in the ongoing tri-series in Australia.

The bowling attack looks an inexperienced lot in the absence of Zaheer. Praveen Kumar will be the pace spearhead alongside Vinay Kumar, Irfan and Dinda, who last played an ODI in the West Indies in June. Ravichandran Ashwin will lead the spinners' pack with leg-spinner Rahul Sharma being the other specialist tweaker.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Pragyan Ojha was ignored for the slow pitches of Bangladesh.

Yusuf Pathan made the cut after his whirlwind 114 off 78 balls for Baroda against Saurashtra in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match on Sunday, Feb. 26.