Asia Cup 2018: 5 factors that can impact team India's performance

With India close to wrapping up their tour in England, backend operations have quite surely begun to ensure team India emerge definitive winners in the competition amongst Asia's best. The Asia cup commences September 15th featuring Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the underdog qualifier team for which we have, Hong Kong and UAE battling it out at Kuala Lumpur.

Team India have made their announcements, shutting doors to many of the predictions and bringing alive a few. Fans are definitely left waiting to hear more about the remaining slots to be filled post the India-A games which are currently taking place. However, there are some splendid highlights from this squad which has been declared along with a new leader and a couple of comebacks we've been anticipating. With some swing greats, a new left arm speedster, deep batting options, the legendary finisher, this current Asia cup squad is an a la carte for talent and let us not forget that we're day by day inching closer towards the World Cup.

So here are the top five highlights from Team India's squad and other factors to watch out for this Asia Cup.

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#5 Rohit Sharma as captain

The new captain

Rohit Sharma, the most successful IPL captain leads India from the front at the Asia Cup. Rohit Sharma took charge in the series against Sri Lanka and started off with a bang by clinching the winner hat. Then came the Nidahas trophy where again Rohit Sharma led an alternative side to a thrilling victory over Bangladesh defining him to be a more than an able captain in the absence of Virat Kohli.

As the captain, Rohit Sharma's batting average touched 35.60 in the recently concluded Nidahas trophy. Sharma can boast of a mammoth 217 in 3 innings at an average of 108.0 as well as an average of 54 in the ODI & T20I formats respectively when Sri Lanka toured India in December. Sharma is a sound leader, with phenomenal batting records especially on sub-continent tracks and is a definite must watch in this upcoming Asia Cup.

#4 The Swashbuckling Finisher

The Finisher

Aren't all cricketing fans glued to their seat when there is a nail-biting equation on the board, and then walks Mahinder Singh Dhoni finishing off things in style. India played Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Final at Mirpur in 2016, one cannot forget the humungous six from Dhoni's bat that cleared the stadium and punctured the spirit of the home crowd.

Such are the statements that Dhoni makes and especially on his day, he can take on any bowling attack at any venue. Dhoni in 2018 so far has had a slow start with 148 runs at an average of 37.00 playing only 6 innings. However, he holds an average of 64.61 against Sri Lanka, 55.91 against Pakistan and 51.67 against Bangladesh.

Dhoni batting anywhere between 4 down to 7 down carries an average of 50.58 (cumulative) which signifies his hold in the middle order to build the innings suiting the situation of the game at hand.

Nevertheless, remember that 100 runs 8th wicket stand between Dhoni and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar that sealed the win against Sri Lanka in Pallekele? Probably one of the highlights which proves how he simulates the game during practice sessions in the nets. Many are certainly hoping for another Nidahas thiller this Asia Cup expectantly painted by the Helicopter Shot Curator himself.

Maybe some stump mic entertainment could add as a bonus to the package.

#3 Introducing the Tonk Express

Many Team India followers predicted the return of Mohammed Siraj for the upcoming Asia Cup. However, the selectors had a different take on this by picking up the nippy Khaleel Ahmed into the squad.

The left arm medium-fast bowler is consistently hitting the deck at 145+ kmph. This fiery 20-year-old was the pick of the bowlers during India's U-19 tour to Sri Lanka where he bagged 12 wickets in 3 innings, earning him a spot in the U-19 World Cup.

Relatively a new talent to the List-A duels with 17 matches, 28 wickets and an economy of just 4.74, Khaleel Ahmed was a surprise pick over limelight heroes of a similar age bracket such as Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi and Ishan Porel. Team India hopes to fill the void of a left-arm seamer by working and skilling Khaleel Ahmed who idolizes the brilliant Zaheer Khan.

#2 Here comes the Knuckleball King

How will Bhuvi change things for India?

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was first noticed when he dismissed Mohammed Hafeez off the very first delivery which swung from outside off almost taking the middle stump. What followed soon was Team India having found their swing specialist with the sporadic yet splendid knuckleballs.

Kumar has taken 90 wickets in ODI's so far and is a shy 10 wickets away before he reaches the milestone three-figure mark. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be looking forward to bowling against his favourites Sri Lanka and Pakistan against whom he has picked up 16 and 11 wickets respectively.

In the recently concluded England tour, Kumar was quite expensive with his spells in the T20I edition and played only one ODI before sighting a lower back injury. The question is could this injury hamper Kumar's strength of combining swing bowling along with the speed he can generate?

However, after rehabilitation, Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed signs of absolute recovery by scalping a 3/33 against South Africa A earning a spot in the Indian squad.

#1 Playing in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Dubai International Cricket Stadium

One of the crucial factors testing the Rohit Sharma led Team India this Asia cup is the neutral venue. India has played against Pakistan in the DLF cup in 2006 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium and none at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Certainly, this is an area which is going to be on the primary lookout for the team analysts to arrive at some permutations and combinations.

However, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan have familiarized themselves with these two venues. Pakistan has played 32 games at Abu Dhabi and 16 matches at Dubai. Going by the numbers, all eyes will assuredly be on Pakistan.

Both venues are predominantly dry with extreme temperatures, which is a crucial factor to consider as Team India will be returning from England where conditions are a lot milder. India also has a low winning percentage when it comes to ODI's at neutral venues, primarily struggling against Pakistan.

What Team India will look to do is to adapt to conditions by running drills and replicating match situations during their training sessions. The Sharma led side will undoubtedly feel at home with a majority of the stadium occupied by fellow Indians cheering them on.