Asia Cup 2018 - Group B Analysis

Asia Cup provides a perfect preparation time for all the teams to finalize on squads and probables ahead of the World Cup in England next year. In the last edition, the tournament was held in the T20 format and this year it will be back in its regular 50-over format as a build up to the key 'marquee' event.

Six teams have been separated into two groups. Asia Cup Qualifiers Winners Hong Kong are in Group A with arch-rivals India and Pakistan. Five-time winners Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are placed in Group B. What are the Group B team combinations, stats, and players to watch out for?

Group B Fixtures :

Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (Venue - Dubai, Date - 15th September 2018)

Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Venue - Abu Dhabi, Date - 17th September 2018)

Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Venue - Abu Dhabi, Date - 20th September 2018)

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Sri Lanka

In 2017, SL had three 5-0 series losses against South Africa, India & Pakistan. This year under new coach Chandika Hathurusingha, they have had a remarkable turnaround to win the Tri-Nation Tournament with Bangladesh & Zimbabwe held in Bangladesh. Though they lost the home series against South Africa 3-2, they won their last three games including the lone T20 v SA.

Injuries to Chandimal & Gunatilaka weakens the batting department a bit, but still they will go into this tournament quite confident with enough firepower in the likes of power hitters like Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, and Dasun Shanaka. In the series opener, they will face Bangladesh after their infamous Nidahas Trophy clash where tensions ran in the middle of the match between both the team players.

Squad: Angelo Mathews (C), Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, D de Silva, D Shanaka, Shehan Jayasuriya, N Dickwella (wk), Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Dilruwan Perera, Amilo Aponso, Kasun Ranjitha, Suranga Lakmal, D Chameera, L Malinga

Key Players - Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Akila Dananjaya

Key figures -

5 - SL's Asia Cup titles out of 13 editions.

6 - No. of SL's batsmen in top 10 leading run scorers in Asia Cup

Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh will go into Asia Cup on back of a successful limited-overs campaign in the Caribbean where they won both the ODI & T20 series with a 2-1 margin. But in all their remaining international fixtures in 2018, they didn't have enough success. At home, they lost the Tri-Nation series against Sri Lanka & Zimbabwe and in India, they lost the T20 series versus Afghanistan, the other contenders in the group.

Opener Tamim Iqbal is in red-hot form and they had enough experienced players in their batting line-up in the form of Mushi, Mahmadullah. Shakib's fitness is a notable concern. Conditions in UAE will also offer assistance to their well-balanced bowling attack. But they have to see through Afghanistan who shocked them in the previous edition of Asia Cup to have qualification chance for the 'Super Four' stage.

Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Tamim Iqbal, Liton das (wk), Mohammed Mithun, Mominul Haque, Ariful Haque, NH Santo, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmadullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Abu Hider Rony, Nazmul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

Key Players - Shakib-Al-Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmadullah

Key figures -

33 - Matches lost by Ban in all the editions of Asia Cup. Most for any team.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan

In March, Afghanistan qualified for next year's World Cup in England in one of the most dramatic ways you would ever see. They won all their limited-overs campaigns against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Ireland. They even made their first test appearance. They will look to add more to an already glorious year.

In Rashid, nabi and Mujeeb, they had one of the best spin departments in the tournament. Afghanistan's batting looks bit bleak and their fortunes mostly lie in the hands of this trio. With renowned history to create upsets in major tournaments, they can fancy their chances of qualifying for the next stage.

Squad : Ashgar Afghan (C), M Shahzad (wk), Ishanullah Janat, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Munir Ahmad (wk), Samiullah Shenwari, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammed Nabi, Rashid, Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam, Sayed Shirzad, Wafadar

Key Players - Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Key Figures -

0 - No. of bilateral series lost by Afg in 2018

0 - No. of losses for Afg in T20's in 2018