5 Indian players expected to shine in Asia Cup 2018

Amidst the cricketing action all around the world, two years have passed like a blink of an eye. The Asia Cup is back with its 2018 edition and BCCI have named the squad for the tournament. Indian cricket team would travel to United Arab Emirates, the host for the Asia Cup 2018 without their captain Virat Kohli who has been rested.

Rohit Sharma would be leading the team. Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav and Suresh Raina, who all were the part of the ODI squad of India's tour of England are the big names who have been left out.

Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu and Manish Pandey have been recalled. Here is the complete Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2018:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedhar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.

Now, let's take a look at 5 players who are expected to shine in the coming major tournament:

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#5 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is set to return after back injury.

The Indian pacer has been suffering from a back injury lately. However, it looks like he has recovered completely and is ready for the Asia Cup. The 28-year-old bowling veteran took no time to regain his best of form as he recently featured in an ODI against South Africa 'A' in which he picked up 3 wickets and announced that he is ready to make a comeback in the first team.

Bhuvneshwar sustained a back injury in the third ODI against England and was ruled out from the remainder of the tour. It was expected that he would take four weeks to recover, however, it didn't happen.

It is a good news for Rohit Sharma's team to have Bhuvneshwar Kumar back in the squad as he produces top balling threat.

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#4 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav would look to continue his top bowling form.

The slow left-arm chinaman bowler took the English tour by storm. Kuldeep Yadav delivered some exceptional figures in India's tour of England in the ODIs and T20s.

It felt like the English batsmen had no clue about how to cope with Kuldeep's deliveries. Though, the young bowler wasn't that helpful in the Test series.

Continuing his IPL form, the left arm bowler never failed to impress wearing the Indian jersey and would surely play a vital role in the Asia Cup.

Yadav picked up 9 wickets in the ODI series against England and would look to carry his brilliant form in the upcoming major tournament.

#3 KL Rahul

England v India - KL Rahul on strike

The 26-year-old right-handed batsman had a brilliant form in the IPL 2018. He started the English tour with a bang as he struck a not out 101 in the first T20 match. However, the batsman has failed to impress ever since that match.

The English pitches are hard to bat on, this might be another factor for him losing his spectacular form.

But, a new day, a new start is what he needs to highlight his name on the scoring charts. KL Rahul is one of the top batting prospects in the coming future and it is highly expected that the batsman would be a vital player for Indian batting side.

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#2 Shikhar Dhawan

England v India - 3rd ODI: Shikhar Dhawan on strike

The 'man of the match' award winner in the final of last Asia Cup edition in 2016, Shikhar Dhawan has been in a tremendous form since the IPL 2018. However, he suffered a hand injury in the IPL.

However, soon after the IPL, India faced Afghanistan and Ireland where Shikhar Dhawan played back to back innings of 107 and 74 runs respectively.

The left-handed opener wasn't able to perform well in the T20 series against England. However, he has been in a fine run since then. The 'Gabru' hasn't been in the best of forms in England but we can't say that he failed.

Dhawan looks set to roar in the upcoming Asia Cup.

#1 Rohit Sharma

England v India - 1st ODI: Rohit Sharma in action

Rohit Sharma would enter the tournament with heavy expectations and even heavier burden of being the captain of the team in the absence of the regular captain, Virat Kohli.

The Indian 'Hitman' has been enjoying a fine form lately in the One Day Internationals. The Indian opener struck two back to back centuries in England out of which one came in a T-20 fixture and the other came in the opening match of the ODI series in Manchester.

However, the next two matches didn't go his way as he scored a combined 17 runs in the next two fixtures.

Following the absence of Virat Kohli, there will be a huge burden on the shoulders of Indian openers to provide a fine start to the team and Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan is the perfect duo for the job. The Indian captain for the Asia Cup 2018 is expected to outperform everyone in the tournament.