Indian squad leaves for Asia Cup

The Indian cricket squad, led by Virat Kohli in the absence of injured regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, departed here today for the Asia Cup competition in Bangladesh starting on February 25.

Dhoni has been ruled out of the tournament after the wicketkeeper-batsman sustained a Grade I left side-strain injury during the course of the second Test against New Zealand earlier this month.

The Kohli-led team would commence its campaign to regain the trophy, that India won for the fifth and last time in 2010 in Sri Lanka, with a round robin game against hosts Bangladesh on February 26.

The remaining round robin fixtures for India are scheduled on February 28 (v Sri Lanka), March 2 (v defending champions Pakistan) and March 5 (v Afghanistan).
The final of the tournament is scheduled on March 8.

India squad: Virat Kohli (Capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra and Ishwar Pandey.