Asia Cup 2018: India's predicted XI to face Hong Kong

One of the most anticipated clashes of the Asia Cup 2018 is India taking on Pakistan and both these team could face each other as many as three times, once in the Group stage, once in Super Four and once in the final.

The first match between the two teams, which is the confirmed fixture, will be played at the Dubai international stadium on September 19 and both the teams will look to give their 110% and win the match against their arch-rivals.

India will be handicapped by the fact that they will be playing Hong Kong a day before the clash against Pakistan and the players could be burnt out for the all-important clash. So, one can expect the Indian team management to go in with a second-string side for the Hong Kong clash.

Let us take a look at how India could line up for their Asia Cup 2018 opener against Hong Kong.

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Openers (Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan)

India v Sri Lanka - ICC Champions Trophy

Skipper Rohit Sharma and his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan have been very successful as a pair at the top of the order as they have stitched together a lot of memorable partnerships for India and helped the team win a lot of games in ODIs.

In spite of India playing Pakistan 24 hours after they play Hong Kong, it is likely that both Rohit and his deputy in the Asia Cup, Dhawan, will open the batting for India as they don't have any other batsman for the openers' role as KL Rahul, the only other batsman who is capable of opening the batting, is likely to be given a run in the middle order.

So, there should not be any surprises for the batsmen who will open the batting and both Rohit and Dhawan will look to get some much-needed match practice before they take on Pakistan the next day.

Rohit has been out of action since the ODI series against July and could be rusty while Dhawan has completely looked out of sorts in the Test series against England and will look to redeem himself in the Asia Cup.

Middle order (KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav)

England v India - 3rd ODI: Royal London One-Day Series

In the absence of Virat Kohli, the Indian team can experiment with a few players in the middle-order. With the team needing a regular number 4, KL Rahul is expected to get an extended run in that position.

Ambati Rayudu, who is coming back into the Indian team, is likely to bat at number three while Kedar Jadhav, who is returning from an injury is set to take his number 6 position back.

It won't be a surprise if Rahul is asked to bat at number 3 with Dinesh Karthik getting the nod in the middle order ahead of Rayudu.

Wicketkeeper and all-rounder (MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya)

England v India - 3rd ODI: Royal London One-Day Series

There should not be any questions regarding the wicketkeeper-batsman as MS Dhoni is a certainty in the playing XI. His position in the batting order might the team management a headache as he could be the answer to India's woes at number 4 but that would make the lower-middle order weak. Rohit has always backed Dhoni to bat up the order and it will be interesting to see whether he comes out to bat at 4 or 5 in the Asia Cup.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had a decent series against England, will take the number 7 slot in the tournament.

Spinners (Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal)

England v India - 1st ODI: Royal London One-Day Series

India have two world-class wrist spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and adding to this, they have the services of Axar Patel as the third spinner. The team management will want both Kuldeep and Chahal to be fresh to take on Pakistan and it won't be surprising if Axar Patel gets the nod in the starting XI ahead of Kuldeep for the Hong Kong clash.

Pacers (Shardul Thakur and Khaleel Ahmed)

England Lions v India A - Tri-Series International

To avoid the Indian pacers burning out, the BCCI has taken as many as five bowlers to bowl at the Indian batsmen at the nets during the Asia Cup. With the Pakistan clash coming a day after India's match against Hong Kong, India's first-choice fast bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah might not feature in the match.

Bumrah is coming back after toiling hard in England while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is coming back from a back injury. The seamers will be rotated throughout the tournament and against Hong Kong, Shardul Thakur is likely to play alongside Khaleel Ahmed, who will be making his international debut.