Written by: Waseem Abbas
Posted on: August 26, 2022 | 
| 中文
Babar Azam and Rishabh Pant during T20 WC 2021
The 15th edition of the Asia Cup will begin on the 28th of August and will continue till the 11th of September, 2022. Six teams including Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong will be competing for the Asian champion’s title. The tournament is scheduled to be played in the UAE and will be in T20 format. The event was initially planned to be played in Sri Lanka in 2020, but due to the rising economic crisis and Covid-19 cases, the tournament was shifted to the UAE and scheduled for Aug-Sept, 2022.
India is the defending champion of the competition, as it had won the last Asia Cup competition played in 2018 in the UAE, defeating Bangladesh by three wickets. India has won the Asia Cup 8 times, while Sri Lanka has won it five times and Pakistan has won it twice. The first ever Asia Cup played in 1984, was in the One Day International (ODI) format, and all the subsequent editions were in the same format. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC), however, decided in 2015 that the tournament will be played on a rotation basis from then on; one tournament in 50-overs format and the next one in T20 format.
Team India, the winners of 2018 Asia Cup
The six teams participating in this year’s Asia Cup have been divided into two groups: Pakistan, India and Hong Kong are in group 1, while Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are in group 2. Each team from both the groups will play against the other two teams in their respective group, and after round 1, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the next round. In round 2, all the four teams, two from each group, will play a game against each other, and the two top teams in this round, will play the final on the 11th of September at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan is expected to play its archrival India thrice in this tournament, if both teams reach the finals. The first contest is on 28th of the August, and the second probable match is on the 4th of September, if both India and Pakistan defeat Hong Kong. Most probably, Pakistan and India will reach the finals, as these teams are the best qualified to do so.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and KL Rahul during practice session in Dubai on the 25th of August, 2022
Pakistan and India are the obvious favorites, and the team that plays better cricket on the given day will seal the deal. India has tested its bench strength in the last few bilateral tournaments against West Indies, Zimbabwe and New Zealand, and in this Asia Cup, they are back with their full-strength squad. Their batting lineup is undeniably the best in the tournament, bolstered by the presence of the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, and Rishabh Pant amongst others. The only worry for them would be their bowling, especially fast bowling, where they are lacking experience. India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, and the versatile bowler Harshal Patel are not playing the tournament due to injuries, while experienced Muhammad Shami has also mysteriously been snubbed from the squad after the humiliating defeat against Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan is the only team capable of challenging India, the world's number one ranked T20I team in the world, as it has world-class top-order batters and experienced spinners. Pakistani skipper Babar Azam is the world’s number one T20I batter, while wicketkeepers batter Muhammad Rizwan is ranked third, while spinners, Muhammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan are both experienced and the conditions in the UAE will suit them. Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali have been tasked with finishing the innings for Pakistan.
Team Pakistan
Pakistan team was all set to roar in the competition, however, it met a fatal blow with an injury to its premier fast-bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi that ruled him out of the competition. In the absence of Shaheen and Hasan Ali, the latter having been dropped from the team, the fast-bowling department consists of inexperienced young pacers. Harris Rauf has played 35 matches, Muhammad Hasnain has played 18, Muhammad Waseem has played 11, Shahnawaz Nawaz Dahani has played only 2 games and Naseem Shah is yet to make his T20I debut. None of these pacers had made international debuts when the last Asia Cup was played in 2018. Despite inexperience, Pakistani pacers can stun the opponents, especially the role of 19-year-old Naseem Shah will be crucial with the new ball, who played an impressive ODI debut series against Netherlands this week when he bagged the ‘Player of the Series' award.
Other teams participating have faced issues with their team combination of late. Afghanistan has the best spinners of any team in the tournament, with T20 League trotters Rashid Khan, Mujib Ur Rehman, Muhammad Nabi and Noor Ahmed. They have some of the world’s most explosive batters in their squads, like Rehman Ullah Gurbaz, Najib Ullah Zardan, Hazrat Zazai, etc., however, how they fare against quality spinners in spin-conducive conditions in the UAE remains to be seen. Afghanistan’s fast bowling is too weak to win games, which is going to haunt their chances in the tournament. Sri Lanka has some exciting young batters, like Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka and Pathum Nissanka, and some mystery spinners, like Wanindu Hasaranga and Jeffery Vandersay. This Sri Lankan team can beat any team on a good day. Bangladesh has given experienced all-rounder Shakib ul Hasan the responsibility to lead their team, abdicating wicket-keeper batter Nurul Hasan of the responsibility, who assumed the role only a few months ago. It is improbable that Bangladesh will be able to turn things around dramatically in a short span of time.
Sri Lankan team
As the competition is in the T20 format, which has emerged as the most popular format of the game in recent years. The competition has garnered all the hype and attention as the Asian arch-rivals, Pakistan and India, will face each other on the second day of the competition. Players to watch out for include Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Rashid Khan, Wanindu Hasranga, Naseem Shah. Whether India further consolidates its Asian supremacy in cricket or Pakistan races towards its third title, or any other team surprises the pundit, we will know in two weeks. My verdict on the probable champion, if I listen to my heart, is Pakistan, and if I hear my mind, it's India.
Players to watch out for: Babar, Kohli and Hasaranga
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