India-Pakistan all-time Asia Cup XI 

Asia Cup is one of the highly rated tournaments to take place ever in the world. After the World Cup and the Champions Trophy, the battle between all the Asian giants is viewed with a lot of interests such that it gains popularity all over the world.

The talk of the town happens to be the India-Pakistan clash as fans from both sides wait in anticipation as this is the only other tournament after ICC events where they get to see the epic rivalry between the two sub-continent powerhouses.

Over the years, Sri Lanka has been the most consistent team but the men in blue have attained glory on most six occasions ever since 1984. However, Pakistan have witnessed success only twice in the history of the tournament.

Going into the tournament, India and Pakistan are the teams to beat as both the squads look strong on the paper. Even in past years, both the nations have produced a plethora of performers who have gone on to create records at the World stage.

We take a ride down the memory lane to form an all-time India-Pakistan Asia Cup XI:

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Openers: Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar

The duo of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar is perfect for any opening pair in white-ball cricket

The intimidating Indian opening pair was one of the best of their times. The duo of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar is perfect for any opening pair in white-ball cricket.

They tend to complement each other well and have known for many years, it was always easy to read the non-striker’s mind and react without any second thoughts.

Sachin, who played the anchor’s role while Ganguly was the aggressor at the beginning of the innings.

They share a huge camaraderie and display immense respect for each other. Their exploits at the top for India were instrumental in laying foundations for others who followed.

In Asia Cup, Sachin had third-highest 971 runs in his 21 innings while Ganguly mustered 518 runs from his 12 innings in the multi-nation tournament.

Middle-order: Virat Kohli, Shoaib Malik, Inzamam ul-haq, MS Dhoni

To provide the much-required impetus at the back end of the innings, there isn’t a better striker in Asia than MS Dhoni

One of the finest players of his time and the backbone of Pakistan’s batting in ODI cricket, Inzamam ul-Haq forms an automatic choice in the Asia XI. So, does Shoaib Malik, who enjoyed a heck of his time in the sub-continent conditions, scoring ample of runs against India and other neighbours.

While there doesn’t a possibility of an all-time XI without India’s current skipper Virat Kohli and definitely one of the greats of the game.

Virat has 613 runs in his 10 innings in Asia Cup with a highest of 183 against Pakistan in 2012.

To provide the much-required impetus at the back end of the innings, there isn’t a better striker in Asia than MS Dhoni. Former India skipper averages a hefty 95 with 571 runs in his 12 innings in Asia Cup.

All-rounders: Kapil Dev and Shahid Afridi

Afridi has 532 runs from 21 innings at an astonishing strike rate of 140

It is no brainer to look beyond Kapil Dev and Shahid Afridi for a spot in the all-rounders category.

The two have been the best that the respective countries have ever produced in their history of ODI cricket. Kapil Dev brought a resurgence in India’s style of thinking after his attacking approach instilled a sense of confidence in the Indian team to lock horns against the best.

He is India’s second highest leading wicket-taker in Asia Cup with 15 scalps to his name in 7 innings with a staggering average of 13.

While Afridi, known for his skills to tonk the ball hard, and the ability to muster runs at a quick pace makes him a viable option in the lower middle order. Afridi has 532 runs from 21 innings at an astonishing strike rate of 140.

#4 Bowlers: Abdul Qadir, Saeed Ajmal and Wasim Akram

The list features an all-time Asian great leg-spinner in Abdul Qadir, who was a pioneer in the art of bowling leg-spin

Pakistan has always produced the best fast bowlers and the leg-spinner of all time in the cricketing world. The list features an all-time Asian great leg-spinner in Abdul Qadir, who was a pioneer in the art of bowling leg-spin. In the years of 70 s and 80s, when Pakistan fancied fast bowling, Qadir was a prominent face in the XI bases on his skills to bowl stylish leg-spin.

While Qadir was great in his own style, Pakistan was fortunate to have Wasim Akram as one of the greatest left-arm seamers to ever play the game.

A great exponent of reverse swing, Wasim was a headache for all the opening batsmen. The youngest player to feature in the bowling group sees Saeed Ajmal as a right-arm off-break bowler.

Ajmal attained decent success in Asia cup with 25 victims in just 12 matches to be Pakistan’s best at the tournament.