3 reasons why India are not the favourites to win the Asia cup
Team India have been unstoppable in the 50-over version of the game in the recent times, thanks to some outstanding performances of the Indian cricketers. The team's overall performance has gone a few notches up in the last 2 years.
The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has played a big part in the team's success leading from the front and scoring hundreds at will. Arguably the best ODI batsman in the contemporary times, Kohli has been the numero uno for India with the bat in ODI cricket.
India's next ODI assignment is the Asia Cup 2018 which will be played in the UAE commencing on September 15. The selectors have made a surprising move by resting the Indian skipper for this tournament which is a big blow for team India already.
Let us take a look at 3 reasons why India are not the favorites to win the Asia Cup.
#3 Fragile middle order
In the absence of Virat Kohli, there is not a single batsman in the middle order who can anchor the innings after a top-order collapse in a stingy run-chase. If Rohit and Shikhar fall early, then that might be it for India on the day.
Manish Pandey has been in and out of the side and KL Rahul has shown no resilience in the middle order. Ambati Rayudu is making a comeback after a long time while Kedar Jadhav has not played much cricket after his injury. Amidst all this, Dhoni has struggled to play his role of the finisher on several occasions.
The problems are in plenty for team India in the middle order and absence of Kohli is likely to be felt. The middle-order batsmen have to show resilience and not throw their wicket away. With the range of shots they have got, they can always catch up with the scoring rate.