Indian squad for Asia Cup announced

Indian selectors have announced the squad for Asia Cup, due to start from 15th September. The squad consists of the following players:

Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan (VC), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed

Virat Kohli has been rested otherwise this looks to be a well-balanced squad with few surprises including Khaleel Ahmed and Ambati Rayudu.

Asia cup will have six teams namely India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and a qualifier.

India will start as favourites with Pakistan expected to give them a run for their money. Pakistan has the experience of playing in UAE which will put them in a good stead.

Teams have been divided into two groups, Group A consists of India, Pakistan and a qualifier, while group B consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Top 2 teams from each group will qualify for super 4. Teams in Super four will play each other once, while the top two teams will qualify for the final to be played on 28th September.

Last time around Asia cup was played in 20 overs format, but, this time around it will be 50 overs format.

The tournament will consist of 13 matches.

Talking about the strength of the teams, India and Pakistan are contenders for the tournament. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be looking to put up a good performance. These two teams have struggled a bit in the recent past, which might hamper their chances to win the tournament.

Afghanistan might be the surprise package of the tournament. They have a good team considering the pitches in UAE. Rashid Khan will look to perform on the big stage. He might be a handful on these pitches.

India will also look to take revenge for the champions trophy final defeat, which will make things really interesting.