Best XI of Asia Cup 2018
Indian won the 2018 Asia Cup by defeating Bangladesh on the last ball of the final. The Men in Blue were clinical in all the three departments throughout the tournament.
There were some exemplary performances given by players from every team in the Asia Cup. Mushfiqur Rahim's 144 in the first match, Rashid Khan's whirlwind fifty, Mohammad Shahzad's hundred against India were all a treat to watch. Liton Das played a brilliant knock in the final but still, Bangladesh couldn't end on the victorious side.
Some players made their debut in the Asia Cup, Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed from India and Shaheen Afridi from Pakistan to name a few. Khaleel Ahmed and Afridi were brilliant with the ball.
There were some players who made comebacks to their national side and performed brilliantly. Malinga, in his comeback match, took two wickets in his first over. Jadeja, against Bangladesh, took 4 wickets. Ambati Raydu and Kedar Jadhav also made their comeback to the national side in style.
There were some lows in the tournament as well. Tamim Iqbal got injured in the first match of the Asia Cup and had to be ruled out of the tournament. Hardik Pandya also injured his lower back and had to return home.
Let us look at the best XI from the Asia Cup 2018. This eleven is entirely based on the performances in the Asia Cup 2018.
Openers: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan
Both the Indian openers were in terrific form throughout the tournament. They were the top 2 run scorers of the tournament. Rohit scored 317 runs at an average of 105.66. He also hit 13 sixes which was the highest in the tournament. Shikhar Dhawan scored 342 runs at an average of 68.40. He also scored 2 centuries in the tournament.
Fakhar Zaman had a terrible outing in this Asia Cup. Imam ul Haq played a few handy knocks and scored 225 runs at an average of 56.25. He was Pakistan's highest run scorer and scored 3 fifties in the tournament.
Bangladesh openers struggled throughout the tournament. But Mehidy Hasan and Liton Das stitched together an opening partnership of 120 in the final with latter scoring a hundred. Hong Kong openers had a record partnership against India but they struggled against Pakistan.
Mohammad Shahzad also had a decent Asia Cup, scoring 268 runs at an average of 53.60. He scored a fantastic hundred against India which is why Afganistan achieved a decent total in that match.
But, he was no match to the Indian pair who were just brilliant with the bat.