Asia Cup 2018: India's Probable Playing XI vs Pakistan in the Super Four Clash

The group stages of the 14th edition of the Asia Cup ended on 20th of September, 2018. The Super Four phase of this tournament is presently underway.

The four teams that have made it to the Super Four are India and Pakistan from Group A and Afghanistan and Bangladesh from Group B.

Sri Lanka's exit from the group stages has been the biggest surprise of the tournament. They crashed out after losing both their group matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The defending champions, India are having a good tournament thus far. They started off with a close victory against the minnows Hong Kong. But in their next match, against arch-rivals Pakistan, they were at their very best, as they won by 8 wickets. India advanced to the Super Four as Group A's champions.

In their first Super Four match against Bangladesh also, India produced another solid performance and won the match by 7 wickets.

India's next Super Four encounter is against Pakistan, on the 23rd of September.

This will be an important match for both the teams, as the winner of this match will be through to the finals of the tournament.

In this article, we try and select India's probable playing XI, in this Super Four encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan.

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#1 Openers: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will be opening the innings for India in this match. Both these players are in good form in the tournament. They have been consistent in providing solid starts in all the matches. The Indian team would be hoping for these two star batsmen to provide a good start even in this match against Pakistan.

#2 Middle Order Batsmen: Ambati Rayadu, MS Dhoni (wk),

KL Rahul, and Kedar Jadhav

The Indian middle order has not really been tested in this tournament. In both the matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh, India chased very small totals and the top order sealed the match for the team. The middle order's performance against Hong Kong in the death overs was not satisfactory, as it could not score enough runs in the last ten overs.

Hence the induction of KL Rahul can be a good option, as he can hit big shots as well as play long innings if required.

Ambati Rayadu, who is having a decent tournament, should be batting at the number three position. MS Dhoni can be promoted to the number four slot, as he is finding it a little difficult, to score quickly in the death overs. At number four, Dhoni will get more time to settle down and then play his big shots.

KL Rahul should bat at the number five position because of his big hitting capability. He can be the ideal player who can accelerate the scoring in the last ten overs. If the team loses early wickets, then Rahul coming in at number 5 can rebuild the innings as he has the experience of playing in the top order. Kedar Jadhav, who has emerged as an all rounder in this tournament, should be batting at number six.

#3 All Rounder: Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja was not in the originally selected 16 member squad. It was because of Axar Patel's injury that he got a call as his replacement. As Hardik Pandey was also injured, Jadeja got his chance in the playing eleven against Bangladesh.

He grabbed this opportunity with both hands. He went on to bowl a match-winning spell and took 4 wickets to seal his spot in the team for the rest of the tournament. His big hitting capabilities will also come handy for the team in the last ten overs and he should come in at number 7 in the batting order.

#4 Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal

The Indian bowlers have been in tremendous form in this tournament. After their below-par performance against Hong Kong, they came back strongly to produce match-winning performances against both Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The pacers, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, are consistently providing breakthroughs in their initial spells. They should continue to lead the pace attack in this match too.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal should be the two spinners in the team, alongside spinner allrounder Ravindra Jadeja. Both these wrist spinners have been very consistent in the middle overs throughout the tournament.