The 16th edition of the Asia Cup is just a day away with Pakistan hosting Nepal in Multan on Wednesday. Having taken place in the T20I format last year, the continental showpiece event returns to the ODI format this time around as a precursor to the ICC World Cup that takes place in similar conditions later this year.
Asia Cup 2023: All you need to know
While traditionally having been a standalone event in the ODI format, the Asia Cup has evolved in recent years; not only has it been switching between the two white-ball formats since the tournament made its T20I debut in 2016, it has also become valuable practice for the teams involved ahead of the ODI and T20 World Cups besides the continental bragging rights.
This year’s edition will also be the first in which matches will take place in two separate nations, though the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) retains the hosting rights for all matches. While Pakistan had been awarded the hosting rights for the entire tournament initially, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) later expressed reluctance to travel to Pakistan and managed to get a majority of the matches, including all games involving India as well as the final, shifted to Sri Lanka.
Asia Cup ODI Stats: Past winners, most runs, wickets, hundreds, biggest win and more
With the Asia Cup likely to have a significant impact on the participating team’s plans for the World Cup, we take a look at what the teams, barring Nepal, will be hoping to achieve in the tournament:
India
Team India had won back-to-back editions in 2016 and 2018, albeit in different format, and were heavily favoured to go the distance in last year’s edition in the UAE, only for their campaign to fizzle out with defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Men in Blue start favourites once again and will certainly be backing themselves for a seventh ODI Asian title and an eighth overall.
Prep mode 🔛
Energy levels high 💪
Getting into the groove in Alur 👌#TeamIndia | #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/rHBZzbf4WT
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 29, 2023
The spotlight will fall on the pair of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who will be returning to action after a long break due to a thigh and a back injury respectively. While Iyer will be available for team selection right away, KL Rahul will end up missing the group fixtures as he’s not a hundred percent yet, and will be available from the Super Four stage onwards.
Also Read | Top Indian performers at the Asia Cup
India’s top-order is set in stone and the bowling unit is also fairly set with Jasprit Bumrah having made a successful return from a year-long absence in the T20I tour of Ireland, it is the middle-order that remains an area of concern for the Men in Blue. And how Iyer and Rahul shape up in the Asia Cup could go a long way in helping the team leadership find the missing piece in the jigsaw.
Iyer and Rahul will likely be backed even if they underwhelm in the Asia Cup, but India have more than capable back-ups in Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson.
Pakistan
Pakistan enter the Asia Cup high on confidence after their 3-0 whitewash of Afghanistan in an ODI series in Sri Lanka and will be carrying that momentum over to the tournament.
Pakistan have surplus options in bowling with the pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah as well as lead spinner Shadab Khan firing on all cylinders so far, and they might be inclined to test out someone like Mohammad Waseem ahead of the World Cup.
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The only change in their squad from the Afghanistan ODIs is the inclusion of Saud Shakeel as one of their middle-order options with Tayyib Tahir getting relegated to being a travelling reserve, Shakeel will hope to lend further stability to the middle order that is already in the able hands of Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman.
Sri Lanka
Defending champions Sri Lanka will be playing as a home team this year even though they are not the official hosts, with a majority of matches scheduled to take place in their backyard. As a result, the Dasun Shanaka-led side will be backing themselves to win two titles in a row and catch up with India in terms of Asia Cup title count.
The Sri Lankans have had a mixed run this year as far as ODIs are concerned, suffering defeats in India and New Zealand to start the year on a shaky note before pulling one back against Afghanistan at home with a 2-1 series win. They were even more clinical in the ODI World Cup qualifier where they managed to pull off an unbeaten run.
Like Pakistan, their top order appears to be in good hands with openers Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne and wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis having scored consistently in recent fixtures. Skipper Dasun Shanaka’s form however, has been a bit of a concern of late — both in ODIs as well as in the recently-concluded Lanka Premier League — and he will hope to regain it ahead of the World Cup.
Bangladesh
The Bangladeshis are among the most improved sides in the sport in recent years and their performances in the Asia Cup — where they have finished runners-up thrice in the last 10 years — is indicative of that.
Two of those three Asia Cup final defeats were narrow encounters, including a two-run loss against Pakistan in 2012, and the Tigers, who have never won a major trophy at the highest level, will feel a maiden title is around the corner, and could possibly happen in Colombo on 17 September.
The biggest development for the Bangladesh team ahead of the Asia Cup was the drama surrounding opening batter and ODI captain Tamim Iqbal — who abruptly announced his retirement during a home series against Afghanistan only to reverse it around 24 hours later following the intervention of none other than Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself.
Tamim also has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to a back injury, for which he had undergone treatment in the UK. Though he is expected to return to action in the New Zealand ODIs ahead of the World Cup, Bangladesh will hope to find an ideal back-up for him should he not make it in time for the World Cup.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan too have made rapid strides in world cricket and are the newest members in the Test club. Having made their first appearance in a major tournament in the 2014 edition of the Asia Cup, Afghanistan have made three appearances in the tournament and have made it to the Super Fours in each of the last two editions, both of them in the UAE.
The Afghans do have a fair amount of star power in their ranks with the presence of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz among others, but their inability to finish off games from a winning position is what has haunted them of late. It had happened to them in last year’s Asia Cup in the three-wicket defeat against Pakistan. It happened again in the one-wicket loss against the same side in the 3-0 ODI series sweep earlier this month. Conquering the mental block that has prevented them from winning key games is something they will be hoping to overcome in the build-up to the World Cup.
from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/4TwZbXk
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