Asia Cup 2018: Is Virat Kohli rested at the right time? 

Just a week’s rest after the gruelling tour of England, Team India changes colours and travels Middle-East to UAE (Pakistan’s adopted home venue) to defend the Asia Cup which gets underway on September 15. India plays its first match against the final qualifier on September 18. The very next day, they lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan which is predictably touted to be the match of the tournament.

The last time these two sides faced off, it was Pakistan who outshone defending favourites India to lift the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time. That defeat is still fresh in the minds of every Indian cricket fan, and particularly Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya whose heroics (76 off 43 balls; four fours & six sixes) weren’t enough for India to chase down a stiff total of 338 runs at The Oval. India has dominated Pakistan in the last decade (both at ODIs and T20Is); winning seven of the 11 ODIs played since 2010. Likewise, in T20Is India has won six of the seven matches played. In Asia Cups, both the cricket-frenzy nations have five wins against each other with one no-result match.

However, things have changed a lot for Pakistan cricket ever since the CT17 final win over their arch-rivals, as they started playing again as a well-knit unit rather than a bunch of struggling school boys. Guys like Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Hassan Ali have taken centre stage with spirited performances around an able captain in Sarfraz Ahmed.

The bowling has been taken good care of by seamers Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali and tricky lanky spinner Shadab Khan. On the other hand, the pressure will be mounted more on Team India in the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli who has been rested for the mega-tournament owing to overload and fatigue. But the big question I want to raise is, “Is this the right time to rest Virat?” Is the West Indies series at home followed by the Asia Cup more important?

How well will the captain for Asia Cup Rohit Sharma do? Will he thrive under pressure: as a captain (like in Mumbai Indians) and as a batsman? Several other questions also pop up. How will the comeback guys Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, and Ambati Rayudu perform? Who will bat at number 3? At what number will MS Dhoni bat? A lot of questions like this come to mind.

Moreover, Pakistan hasn’t lost a single ODI (won eight) and a T20I (won five) in the Gulf nation since 2016. I believe India is the only team that can challenge at their forte. But with the absence of Virat Kohli, the fulcrum of batting shift onto the shoulders of opening batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. MS Dhoni will be slightly under pressure as the absence of Virat unsettles the Indian middle-order as the likes of Rayudus, Pandeys, Rahuls and Pandyas will have to bat sensibly and guided amicably by MSD.

But of late, Indian batsmen’s struggles against left-arm quicks have come to the fore with the likes of Rohits, Pandyas and Jadavs finding no answers to the searing in-swingers from the likes of Mohammad Amir and Mitchell Starc. Nevertheless, stereotypically the battle will once again be between India’s batting might (in Asian conditions) and Pakistan’s speedsters.

But India’s improved bowling in overseas Tests will surely inspire the bowling unit with the white ball, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar has recuperated from his injuries and is raring to spit venom against India’s neighbours, forming a potent duo with Jasprit Bumrah. But the most important weapon India can unleash is the left arm quick from Tonk, Rajasthan, Khaleel Ahmed who has a similar action like Mitchell Starc. He has performed well for India-A claiming seven wickets in three matches so far. The spin department will once again be controlled by left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and mysterious Yuzvendra Chahal.

Teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan also cannot be taken for granted as on their day, they are the best tormentors operating. Key players like Shakib-al-Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmuddullah Riyad form the key for Bangladesh. Whereas, Sri Lanka have Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera and Lasith Malinga. Afghanistan has million-dollar baby Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Shahzad.