Asia Cup 2018: India's expected playing XI for Pakistan match

The all-important Pakistan-India encounter is around the corner as India are currently playing against Hong Kong in their first game of the tournament. While Pakistan already made a mark by defeating Hong Kong by eight wickets a few days ago.

India made some surprising inclusions and exclusions in today's playing XI but there might be few changes for the all-important Pakistan match.

In this slide, we bring you the best possible Indian team for tomorrow's match:

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Top-order

Since the regular skipper Virat Kohli has been playing non-stop cricket, selectors decided to rest him for the tournament, giving Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma the opportunity to lead the side in the mega event.

He, along with southpaw Shikhar Dhawan, will open the innings for India as they did in today's match. The two have had a decent record in ODIs and have been opening for India for a long time now. Rohit, however, was removed earlier today while Dhawan scored a fabulous comeback century. Both of them need to provide India with the vital start against tough Pakistan bowling line-up.

In Kohli's absence, India had options of Ambati Raydu and KL Rahul for the all-important number three spot. Ambati Rayudu, on the other hand, had a great IPL and played a good knock of 60 runs against Hong Kong. He would be the ideal choice for number three against Pakistan as well.

Middle-order

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The middle order has been a concern for India and selectors have included some in-form players to make sure the middle order does the job in the Asia Cup.

In today's encounter, Dinesh Karthik batted at number four, nonetheless, if he couldn't convert this opportunity to big one, he might be replaced by another in-form batsman, Manish Pandey who was the hero for his team India 'B' in the recently concluded Quadrangular series.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra batsman, Kedar Jadhav would do his duties around number 5-6 as the 33-year-old bats with the flow. He averages around 40 in ODIs and strikes at 110. He hasn't played many match-winning knocks recently and this Asia Cup could be a chance for him to showcase his skills especially against Pakistan.

Wicketkeeper/All-rounder

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India named two wicket-keepers for Asia Cup in the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik. Karthik has though been in good touch recently, mostly in the shorter format, which owned him the place as a batsman in playing XI today against Hong Kong.

MS Dhoni will be quite useful for India not just behind the stumps but with the bat and his leadership skills as well.

Meanwhile, India might like to bring in the all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the Baroda cricketer will be handy lower the order while can bowl in middle as well. His innings in Champions Trophy against Pakistan is still fresh for Indian fans and he can well redo such heroics tomorrow too.

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Bowlers

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The spin department will be handled by the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Both were quite successful in South Africa and will play a major role for India in the Asia Cup as wickets at UAE mostly remain on bit slower side.

With experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar back into the side, means he will head the pace battery. Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for Hong Kong match, will probably replace today's debutant Khaleel Ahmad for the mega encounter against Pakistan.

So the playing XI sums-up as: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.