The Asia Cup cricket tournament is starting tomorrow i.e. from 30 August. 7-time champions India and 2-time winners Pakistan are strong contenders to win the title. While India have been the most successful team in terms of ODI wins since World Cup 2019, Pakistan will also go with a strong top order with their lethal fast bowlers.
Defending champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will enter the tournament as dark horses. Along with this, there are good players in the Nepal team which is entering the field for the first time
India: Bowlers don’t know batting and batsmen don’t know bowling; No opposing team is big if the top order is stable
The most successful team in the Asia Cup, India have been champions of the tournament 7 times. Players like KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah have made the squad after returning from injury. Captain Rohit Sharma has led the team to ODI Asia Cup title once in 2018. But the team failed to qualify for the finals in 2022 after losing to Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the Super-4 stage.
This time, along with experienced players like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya, the responsibility will be on young players to make the team champions.
Team in great form: India have played 57 ODIs since the 2019 ODI World Cup. The team had 34 wins, the most of any team. The team has also defeated West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in ODI series in the past.
Strong batting order: Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are back in the squad along with experienced Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja have been performing well with the bat in the lower order.
Variety in bowling: With the return of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Mohammad Shami are in top class form right now. Shardul Thakur, the highest wicket-taker since the 2019 World Cup, is also part of the squad. Along with Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav is also strengthening the spin department.