Asia Cup 2023: Teams keep one eye on the trophy, other on the World Cup

Asia Cup 2023 gives a terrific opportunity to five of the six nations taking part to prepare well for the upcoming ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023. This tournament helps the players to hone their skills in a competitive environment and in conditions which are going to be similar.

India will be back to their full strength with the return of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, both of whom were out of action for quite some time due to injuries. But we will have to see whether they are going to start in the first XI from the first game itself or not. If they do, I think the batting lineup should be something like that: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja. Then the four bowlers. But India will have to see how they pick the bowling department. Kuldeep Yadav has been picked over Yuzvendra Chahal in the squad, which is a right call. I am assuming that Kuldeep will play. Jasprit Bumrah is back and should play. It will be interesting to see whether he plays all the games or not. I thinkthat it will be monitored very closely.

If Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj both play, then India are going to have a long tail. To increase the batting depth, India could bring in one of the all-rounders in form of Shardul Thakur or Axar Patel and leave out one of their quicker bowlers. That will depend really on the surface India play on that given day. It is a good thing that India have got a group of quality allrounders who provide them with alternatives. It will be interesting to see how they go about their bowling.

I think it is important for those teams who have been playing more T20s than ODIs of late to adapt to the format quickly. More than the batters, it is the bowlers who have the huge challenge of adapting to the longer white-ball format as well as the captains. There is a physical element involved in which your quota of overs goes from 4 to 10. The pace of the game changes too. The pace of the T20 game often naturally brings wickets. In ODIs, sometimes you need to break stubborn partnerships in the middle overs. That is where the captaincy will play a big role. To break such partnerships, the captains will have to chalk out various bowling  combinations, come up with matchups. The challenge for a bowler and captain is slightly different in ODI cricket than T20s. From the Indian perspective, all eyes will be on how they do well in these two aspects of the game.

I am a huge fan of Tilak Varma. I am pleased he got picked for the Asia Cup. He may or may not be in starting XI, but I think he has got the temperament to thrive in international cricket. He has shone for Mumbai Indians in the matches other batters have struggled. He has got the character and temperament required in international cricket.

Pakistan are coming into the Asia Cup on back of a 3-0 clean sweep over Afghanistan. They are high on confidence. I will keep a close eye on Mohammad Haris. They have several high-class players. Haris is one and I am hugely excited to see what he can bring to the table in the Asia Cup, World Cup. I feel he is a big star in the making. The likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah have been playing a lot of cricket. Pakistan, to me, look like a team who are ready to go in Asia Cup. There are several players who are in good form and have enough cricket behind them to start the tournament well. They are also now the World No 1 side in ODIs which will push them to do well.

Afghanistan have made interesting selections. I like the fact that they have got a strong spin department. Noor Ahmad is the one to keep an eye out for. He is starting to get better and better. Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are all quality. They have a lot of spin bowling options. They have got a lot of players now who are getting exposure to international cricket and performing well. Afghanistan are an exciting side. India, Pakistan will start as favourites but don’t count out Afghanistan.

Bangladesh have got several injuries. Tamim Iqbal pulled out due to a back injury which is a huge blow for them. Shakib Al Hasan will captain the side. He is a brilliant player and is expected to do a good job. I am a little surprised that Mahmudullah is not back yet. Going into two big tournaments, I thought Mahmudullah would be someone they would look at to strengthen their side.

It is a great opportunity for a side like Nepal in Asia Cup 2023. Their players are going to come out of the tournament with great experience. It will bring an exposure for them.

Sri Lanka have got an injury problem and there were reports of their players falling prey to Covid-19. They have not yet finalised their squad, at least till the time of writing of this article. Wanindu Hasaranga has got a thigh injury and may not take part in the tournament. They do still have solid players. I loved watching Matheesha Pathirana in the IPL. Maheesh Theekshana is very good with the ball too. Dasun Shanaka is a very good all-rounder. Dimuth Karunarane is expected to provide a lot of runs at the top. However, I still feel it is going to be tough tournament for them against India and Pakistan. Lankans are playing at home and should not be underestimated but with the injury issues, and Covid situation in the camp, it will be a challenge for them to be near to their best in the first couple of games.