Asia Cup 2018: 4 players who can be top run-scorers of the tournament
The Asia Cup 2018 will begin next week and it is anticipated to be a good tournament. The last Asia Cup was held in T20 format but this one will be a One-Day tournament. This is the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and UAE will host the tournament. Meanwhile, the host team UAE will not participate in the Asia Cup.
Six Asian teams are scheduled to play the Asia Cup and they are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. As a matter of fact, Hong Kong qualified for the tournament after winning the Asia Cup Qualifier. The last Asia Cup was held in Bangladesh and India won the tournament after defeating the host team in the final.
India are definitely the favourites to win the Asia Cup and they are the defending champions. But teams like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cannot be ruled out. India are the most successful team of the tournament and won the Asia Cup six times. Similarly, Sri Lanka clinched the title five times, whereas Pakistan won the Asia Cup twice.
The UAE pitches are suitable for batting and the batsmen are expected to dominate the Asia Cup. Several teams have top-notch batsmen in the squad and there are numerous players who can be the leading run-scorers of the tournament.
Here we discuss 4 batsmen who are adept to be the leading run scorers of the Asia Cup:
#4 Tamim Iqbal
The Bangladeshi opener is certainly one of the best of the tournament and he is the pillar of the Bangladeshi batting line-up. The left-handed batsman has scored plenty of runs in the last three years and he is a stupendous ODI player now. Since the 2015 ODI World Cup, Tamim has scored 2180 ODI runs at an average of 62.
Additionally, Tamim is Bangladesh's leading run scorer in every format. He is a veteran in the ODI format and he has played 181 ODI matches for his country. The 29-year-old has scored 6,305 ODI runs, and he has a batting average of 35.84.
In fact, he also has 11 centuries and 43 half-centuries in the ODI format. Therefore, he is a front-runner to be the leading run scorer of the tournament. He missed the 2016 Asia Cup but he will be determined to make a mark this time.