Asia Cup 2018: 5 Batsman from 5 different teams who can be the top run-scorer in the tournament

The Asia Cup 2018 will commence from 15th of September and the core members of Indian Team have already left for the marquee tourney. The Asia cup has been the battleground between 3 main teams of the tournament Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan.

The format this time around is the usual ODI format, a departure from the experiment of the T20 format in the previous edition. This tournament with its arrival always gives a new life to the already celebrated rivalry between India and Pakistan.

The resting of Virat Kohli balances all the teams in the tournament this time around. The famed rivalry between Amir-Kohli has now shifted to Rohit-Amir. So, we will look at a list of five different batsmen who can top the batting charts that hail from five different teams-

---

#5 Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)

Mohammad Nabi has become the lynchpin in the middle order for Afghanistan

Afghanistan is fairly new to the International arena in terms of playing against strong teams but they have shown they can hold their own in crunch matches.

Mohammad Nabi has become the lynchpin in the middle order for Afghanistan in these matches.

Nabi has proved that he has become more than a capable all-rounder for his side by scoring 2315 runs and snaring 109 wickets for his team.

This will be Afghanistan's second outing for the cup after a promising start in 2014 where they thumped Bangladesh to finish second last.

---

#4 Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

Tamim Iqbal has turned a new leaf in his career post the 2015 World Cup

Tamim Iqbal has turned a new leaf in his career post the 2015 World Cup. He has 2180 runs in 41 matches at an average of 62.38 with seven of his 11 ODI hundreds coming in this period alone.

The once swashbuckling opener has changed his playing style to a more calmer one where he tends to build long innings more often than not. Bangladesh will need this a lot more from him if they have to win the Asia cup for the very first time after failing to cross the line twice.

#3 Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka)

The pressure to carry his team will be majorly on Mathews who notwithstanding injuries will have to give his best for his side

Angelo Mathews has had a quiet couple of seasons for Sri Lanka. He has been apprehensive about bowling and the injuries have pushed him to sidelines in the last few years. Upul Tharanga, the other senior batsman, has blown hot and cold for some seasons now.

So, the pressure to carry his team will be majorly on Mathews who notwithstanding injuries will have to give his best for his side. The recent team performance was a disappointing one but a 3-2 result was made possible by 235 runs scored by Matthews against South Africa.

#2 Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan)

Fakhar has shown the consistency that is required to make his team a formidable one that is otherwise known to be mercurial

Ever since his debut against South Africa in champions trophy, Fakhar Zaman has grown leaps and bounds as an opening batsman for Pakistan. Fakhar has shown the consistency that is required to make his team a formidable one that is otherwise known to be mercurial.

He has already scored 1065 runs in 18 matches at a staggering average of 76.07 with a strike rate of 101.90.

The sample size of 18 matches albeit small has shown enough of the talent that we are to witness in the future which started with a 210* runs against Zimbabwe.

#1 Rohit Sharma (India)

He will be the goto guy for India in making the big hundreds and winning the matches for the team

Rohit Sharma has seen his stocks rise exponentially after MS Dhoni asked him to open in Champions Trophy 2013. He has since added three Double centuries against his name in ODIs, the first to do so in International Cricket.

This time in absence of Virat Kohli, he will be heading the side and the last ODI series he led his team in, he scored an unbeaten 208 against the visiting Sri Lankans. He will be the goto guy for India in making the big hundreds and winning the matches for the team.