The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday will announce the 15-member Indian squad for Asia Cup T20 and the ICC World Cup T20.

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The first ever Asia Cup in its Twenty-20 format is starting from 24th of this month in Bangladesh while the World Cup T20 will be played in India from 8th March to 3rd April.

Earlier, Indian skipper MS Dhoni had said after the end of Australia series that the core of team is more or less set and there could only be minor changes in the squad.

There is only one selection puzzle - that of the seventh specialist batsman. India's No 1 batsman Virat Kohli has been rested against Sri Lanka with in-form Manish Pandey getting a look-in for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka.

But when Kohli rejoins the squad for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, at least one among the 15 selected for Lanka series will get the axe from the big-ticket event that is to follow in March-April. Since the team for World T20 is being selected on Friday, it will be unfair to drop Pandey without even having a look at him during the Lanka series that starts February 9 in Pune.

With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni being automatic choices, the spotlight will certainly be on Rahane.

Rahane didn't figure in the playing XI for the three T20 Internationals in Australia which is an indication that he is not in team management's larger scheme of things.

Yuvraj's last over heroics in the third T20 against Australia have ensured his place in the team, so there is no question of dropping him to include both Rahane and Pandey.

(With ANI inputs)