Asia Cup 2018: 2 things India would want to achieve from this series

#2 Their bench strength performing well ahead of the World Cup

Team India

With a heavy burden on his shoulders and with some injury niggles, regular skipper Virat Kohli has been rested for the upcoming Asia Cup. As a result, Rohit Sharma will lead India for this tournament.

This gives the team an ideal opportunity to test their bench strength and ensure all the missing pieces of their puzzle as far as team combination is concerned. A large proportion of India’s success in the ODI format in recent times has come from the performance of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli with the bat and the success of their spin duo- Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Without Virat Kohli at number 3, other batsmen would have to put their hands up and deliver. It’s one aspect of their ODI game that has ailed them for a while. The middle order has been too fragile, minimizing all the good work done by the top order.

Far too many batsmen have been tried in the middle-order with limited access. The return of talented batsmen like Manish Pandey, Ambati Rayudu and Kedhar Jadhav surely would bolster the middle-order. It’s up to the team management to see which batting position suits these batsmen.

As suggested earlier, playing MS Dhoni as the fulcrum at number 4 position would be beneficial in the long run. India could play Ambati Rayudu at number 3, followed by MSD, KL Rahul, Kedhar Jadhav/ Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya. This makes the team look solid and there is hitting ability in each of the batsmen, which is required in ODIs.

As far as their bowling is concerned, India would want Bhuvneshwar Kumar who is returning to the team after an injury layoff to perform well and reclaim his role as the leader of the bowling unit. He will have the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Shradul Thakur for support.

The chief of selectors MSK Prasad mentioned the one area that they are looking to address is of having a left arm fast bowler in the squad, which would variety. In that regard, young speedster Khaleel Ahmed has been fast-tracked into the Indian team.

It certainly would be interesting to see how he would operate, and he has piped Umesh Yadav and Siddharth Kaul, so he seems to be in contention to be named in the squad for the World Cup.

Overall, sans Virat Kohli this team looks formidable on paper. If everyone plays up to their potential then India won’t find it hard to defend their Asia Cup title.