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India best possible XI for Asia Cup 2018

England v India - 3rd ODI: Royal London One-Day Series
England v India - 3rd ODI: Royal London One-Day Series

With less than a year to go for the 2018 Cricket World Cup, the Asia Cup will be a good challenge for Asian teams to test their side and finalize the squads for the mega event. The Asia Cup squad was announced earlier today and the biggest talking point was Virat Kohli getting his well-deserved rest. This decision meant that Rohit Sharma will captain India this time around and his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan will take up the role of Vice Captain.

Although the core of the team has been retained there are few surprise additions and some major omissions in the squad. Suresh Raina and Umesh Yadav have been dropped while players like Manish Pandey, Kedhar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu are making their comeback and the uncapped faster bowler Khaleel Ahmed is also added to the squad.

India Asia Cup 2018 Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Y Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.

Here is the best XI that India can field for the Asia Cup to defend the championship.


Openers

#1 Shikhar Dhawan

India v Sri Lanka - ICC Champions Trophy

The Southpaw from Delhi loves batting in the limited overs format. He is one of the best openers in cricket today and will be a vital cog in this Indian unit. While his current stint in England in the longer formats of the game has been abysmal, but expect him to turn this around in the Asia Cup. He has also been the highest run scorer of India in 2013 as well as 2017 edition of Champions Trophy.


#2 Rohit Sharma (c)

England v India - 1st ODI: Royal London One-Day Series
Will we witness a 4th double Century?

India's three-time double centurion will be seen leading India into this tournament. Rohit will have extra pressure on his shoulders not only as captain but also as a player as Rohit will be the premier batsman in the team in the absence of Virat Kohli. Rohit has shown signs that he can handle this extra it will be interesting how copes up with the challenge this time around. India's hopes in this competition revolve highly around the form of Rohit Sharma.

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