4 Reasons why India start as favourites in Asia Cup

Asia Cup commences in a couple of weeks times in UAE. It would provide a good opportunity for the Asian nations to get their combinations right before the World Cup 2019.

Going by the ICC rankings and even their recent form in overseas tours, India start as overwhelming favorites to win the Asia Cup. Arch-rivals Pakistan would look to spoil the Indian party and try to repeat their heroics of Champions Trophy.

India needs to watch out for Afghanistan and Bangladesh as well. They are more than capable of springing a surprise or two. Bangladesh had a decent outing in West Indies where they won the T20 series. Afghanistan already has a couple of T20 series win under their belt going into this tournament. They would heavily bank on their spin-duo of Rashid and Mujeeb.

Let us see the reason why Indians start as firm favorites in this Asia Cup.

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Explosive Opening Pair

Rohit Sharma and Dhawan form an exciting opening pair

India has arguably one of the best opening pairs in world cricket. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are capable of bludgeoning any attack. They would relish batting in UAE which would offer flat and placid wicket.

Both of them are a fierce striker of the cricket ball which means there is no respite for the opening bowlers from either end. Rohit has a penchant for scoring big hundreds and his three double hundreds are a testament to the same. His partner in crime, Dhawan has a habit of striking it big in multi-nation tournaments.

Best Opening Bowling Pair

Bhuvneshwar is expected to be fit for Asia Cup

India is blessed to have one of the best opening bowling pairs in ODIs in form of Bhuvi and Bumrah. Bhuvi can swing the white ball both ways which make him deadly up front. He has improved as a bowler over the few years and is equally effective at the death as well.

India's premier paceman now also has knuckleball in his armory which he has used to a great effect in deceiving the batsmen.

Bumrah has been a revelation for India in the shorter format. His slinging action makes it very difficult to pick from the hand for the batsmen. He can seam the ball away at ease and bowl yorkers at will.

Both of them will be coming back in the shorter format after a lay off due to injury and would be raring to go and make an impact in the tournament.

Captain Kohli

King Kohli would look to retain Asia Cup

The Indian skipper is, without doubt, one of the best batsmen in ODIs. When he gets going, the team can surpass even a whopping total without any fuss. He plays a risk-free cricket and knows when to switch gears.

Opposition team will look to get him out cheaply if they want to stand any chance against India.

Wrist Spin Duo

Kuldeep and Chahal

The wrist spin-duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal have simply been phenomenal for India in the last one year or so. They were instrumental in ensuring India's first ever ODI series win in South Africa.

Batsmen across the world have found them difficult to negotiate. They would be a certain threat for the batsmen from Asia. Though Asian batsmen are good players of spin, they are not used to facing such quality spinners.