Asia Cup 2018: India's strongest playing XI for Super Fours

After beating Pakistan by eight wickets, the Indian team qualified for the Super Four stage as the group winners from Group A.

A day before their match against Pakistan, India got the better of Hong Kong by 26 runs and with that, they booked their place in the Super Four stage. They will be playing Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the next round. The schedule for these matches was released by the Asian Cricket Council.

Irrespective of who tops the group, India and Pakistan will face each other again in the ongoing tournament, this time in the Super Four stage on Sunday (September 23) while they will play Bangladesh and Afghanistan on September 21 and September 25 respectively.

The points from the Group Stage won't be carried to the Super Fours and each team should win at least two matches to make it to the final without any hiccups. India will look to play the final on September 28 and will expect their players to turn out all guns blazing in the Super Four stage.

Let us take a look at what should be India's playing XI for the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2018.

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Openers

India, in all likelihood, will have skipper Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan as the opening batsmen for the Super Four matches. The duo has been one of the best opening combinations going around and will look to rise up to the occasion and do the job for them.

Shikhar Dhawan was looking ominous against Hong Kong as he scored a stroke-filled century and helped India beat the associates. Against Pakistan, he made a steady 46.

Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, threw it away after getting a start against Hong Kong and played a sublime knock against Pakistan as he smashed the Pakistani pacers all over the park during his knock of 52.

Middle order

Dinesh Karthik could get one more chance

With skipper Virat Kohli absent from the series, this is the right opportunity for the team management to try out various options in the batting order. Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik were given chances in the first two matches and if what skipper Rohit Sharma said is to go by, we can expect the likes of Manish Pandey and KL Rahul to get a chance to prove themselves.

But, both Rayudu and Karthik didn't do any wrong and dropping them will be unfair. They are likely to get more chances to prove themselves before the team management moves to Manish or Rahul.

Wicketkeeper and all-rounders

Kedar Jadhav, the all-rounder

Former India captain MS Dhoni will retain his place as the wicketkeeper-batsman. Kedar Jadhav, who is coming back from an injury he suffered during the 2018 IPL, has looked good in both the matches in the tournament. Against Hong Kong, he scored a crucial 28 down the order and helped India post 285 while he was the main reason why India managed to restrict Pakistan to a low score as his three wickets in the middle overs turned the match in favour of India.

Hardik Pandya suffered an injury and left the field in the middle of the innings. There are no updates about his injury and the team management will not take a chance and make him play at least in the first match of the Super Four stage. Instead, they could be giving Axar Patel a place in the side as an all-rounder.

Spinners

Magician Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been impressive for India so far in the tournament and they will look to continue what they have been doing with the ball. Kuldeep finished with figures of 2/42 against Hong Kong and followed it up with 1/37 against Pakistan.

Leg-spinner Chahal was equally good as he picked up three wickets against Hong Kong and was very unlucky not to pick a wicket against Pakistan as a few catches were dropped off his bowling.

Pacers

He is back!

India, without a doubt, have one of the most lethal fast-bowling combinations in the ODI format as both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah can run through any batting line-up on their day. After starting off on an average note against Hong Kong, Bhuvneshwar set the tone for India's win against Pakistan by dismissing both the openers cheaply.

Bumrah was rested for the game against Hong Kong and was instrumental against Pakistan as he kept things tight with the new ball and helped India clean up the tail. However, it won't be surprising if India decide to rest either of them giving Khaleel Ahmed one more chance in the tournament.