Asia Cup 2022: All 7 Indian players who were part of the 2018 edition as well

After almost four years, the Asia Cup is set to return with the continent's top teams facing off against each other later this month. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will square off against each other in the opening game of the tournament on August 27.

The tournament will be a T20I event this time since it will provide the six participating Asian teams a significant opportunity to warm up before the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in Australia later this year.

India will head into the tournament as strong favorites to lift the coveted trophy. The Men in Blue recently named a strong 15-man squad for the tournament, with a mix of experience and youth on their roster.

They will enter the tournament as the defending champions as well, having won the last edition held in 2018. India went unbeaten during the competition, running past Bangladesh in the final in Dubai.

Ahead of Asia Cup 2022, we take a look at seven Indian players who featured in the 2018 edition also. These players will be in action again and would be looking to win the tournament in the shorter format also.

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#1 Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja

Over the years, Ravindra Jadeja has grown in stature and is now a key member of the Indian team across formats. However, the quality all-rounder wasn't part of the original Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2018.

Jadeja was added as a replacement for Hardik Pandya, who was ruled out of the tournament due to an on-field injury. The left-armer, however, made a decent contribution for India, claiming seven scalps in four games. Jadeja will look to once again impress in the upcoming tournament.

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#2 Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya

As mentioned earlier, Hardik Pandya missed a major chunk of 2018 edition of the Asia Cup 2018 as he suffered an acute lower back spasm during India's group game against Pakistan.

Since then, Hardik has become more prone to injury. His international career went downhill and he was even dropped from the Indian side later. However, a rejuvenated Pandya turned up earlier this year when he guided his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans to their maiden title.

The all-rounder has been in terrific form with both bat and ball since then and is now a crucial cog in the wheel for the Indian team.

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#3 Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal became a regular fixture in India's white-ball matches after the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Kuldeep Yadav and him made a solid pair and were India's go-to options during the middle phase of the game.

However, while the left-arm wrist spin bowler is now not a first-choice spinner in the team, Chahal has been a consistent force with his leg-breaks and googlies. The diminutive tweaker is India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is and will play a vital part in the Asia Cup 2022 for the Men in Blue.

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#4 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar during India net sessions

Bhuvneshwar Kumar will once again lead India's pace attack in the tournament as the squad lacks enough experience in the pace bowling department.

Bhuvneshwar was also a key member of the team during the 2018 Asia Cup. He, however, had the support of Jasprit Bumrah that year, which will be missed as the latter is not part of the upcoming competition due to an injury.

Bhuvneshwar took six wickets in the five games he played during the 2018 edition of the tournament at an economy of just 4.18.

Similar to Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar also saw a slump in his career a few years ago. Fortunately for India, the veteran seamer also found his groove again in recent times and he is now among the team's leading new-ball bowlers in the game.

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#5 KL Rahul

KL Rahul during an India v New Zealand T20 International

A player who will be making his return to the Indian side during this year's Asia Cup is star opening batter KL Rahul.

The Karnataka-born lad hasn't played a T20I since last year and will be making a comeback after a lengthy period on the sidelines. He had a groin injury that required surgery and had also tested positive for COVID-19.

As far as his campaign in Asia Cup 2018 is concerned, the flamboyant batter warmed the bench and didn't feature in a single game during any of the six Indian fixtures.

Nevertheless, the 30-year-old is expected to open the innings with Rohit Sharma from the very first game for India this time around.

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#6 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

The leader of the Indian team which lifted the Asia Cup in 2018, Rohit Sharma, will hope that his troops replicate their heroics this year as well.

While Rohit filled in as captain in 2018 after Virat Kohli was rested for that particular tournament, the Mumbai-born opener is now India's permanent skipper across formats. Rohit is India's second-highest run-getter after Sachin Tendulkar in the Asia Cup, amassing 883 runs in 27 matches.

Rohit had an outstanding tournament in 2018. During five 50-over games, he scored 317 runs at an immaculate average of 105.6.

Being a modern-day batting maestro, Rohit will hope his compelling batting once more comes to the fore for India.

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#7 Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik is growing old like fine wine. He was part of the winning team in 2018 and is now a designated finisher in the T20I side for India.

Karthik played all the games for India in the 2018 Asia Cup and contributed 146 runs in five innings at an average of 48.7. Despite a decent campaign, the veteran wicket-keeper was dropped from the team for their next assignment.

This year, Karthik will head into the competition on the back of some impressive batting form. While acting as a finisher, the 37-year-old scored crucial runs for his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and India this year.

A player with vast cricketing experience and run-making abilities, Karthik will hope to make an impact in what could probably be the last Asia Cup of his career.