Asia Cup 2018: 6 players to watch out for in the tournament

The 14th edition of the Asia Cup is fast impending. The match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on 15 September 2018 will be marking the beginning of this tournament. India will be going into this tournament as the defending champions. This edition of the tournament brings in some great excitement with six strong sides that will be competing hard against each other. There are some terrific individual performers in all of these teams. They would be looking forward to setting the stage on fire and proving their worth. Although all the teams boast of some fierce competitors, they are a few players who will be under the spotlight and will be the players to watch out for in this edition of the Asia Cup. Players to watch out for in the Asia Cup 1. Anshuman Rath | Hong Kong Anshuman Rath of Hong Kong. (Photo by Nigel Roddis – IDI/IDI via Getty Images) The 20-year-old Hong Kong skipper is one of the most exciting prospects to watch out for. The left-hander has played an important role in the evolution of Hong Kong cricket. Anshuman Rath times the ball brilliantly and is definitely one of the most consistent performers in the team. This young man has played 16 one days thus far and has scored 735 runs at an exceptional average of 52.5. He was great to watch in the qualifiers leg of the tournament with 204 runs in 5 innings and also notched up a century there. His leadership traits put him right up there as one of the best players in the side and is the player to watch out for in the Hong Kong team. 2. Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) Mohammad Nabi is one of the mainstays of the Afghanistan side. A calm and a cool cricketer, Nabi goes about his work quite silently and often his efforts go unnoticed or get overshadowed by some other performances. This bowling all-rounder has featured in all the 101 ODIs that Afghanistan played thus far. He has scored 2,315 runs in as many matches and has the ability to hit the ball big. His recent performances with the bat in the T20 Blast would give him a lot of confidence going into this tournament. Also, Nabi has improved a lot with his bowling in the last one year or so and is regularly among the wickets. He picked six wickets in the 3-match ODI series against Ireland recently and will be the key for Afghanistan along with the likes of Rashid Khan. 3. Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh. (Photo Source: Twitter) The Bangladesh vice-captain has been one of the most consistent performers for the team over the years. He adds a great value to the side being a genuine all-rounder and his recent form has been decent enough. If Bangladesh is to make an impact in the tournament, Shakib will have to step up big time. With Tamim Iqbal doubtful for the tournament, this 31-year-old will have a bigger role to fulfil. His vast experience of playing in 188 ODIs will definitely come in handy. This vital cog in the Bangladesh side is closing up on 5,500 ODI runs and has picked 237 wickets thus far. 4. Fakhar Zaman | Pakistan Fakhar Zaman. (Photo Source: Twitter) Since his debut in the Champions Trophy last year against South Africa, Fakhar Zaman has evolved into the most important member in the Pakistani batting lineup. The left-handed batsman is by far one of the best performers for the teams with the bat. He has stunned one and all with his consistency and also notched up three centuries so far. In the 18 matches that he played, Fakhar scored 1,065 runs at a mind-boggling average of 76.07. The 28-year-old is also the fastest to 1,000 ODI runs beating the likes of Sir Vivian Richard who got there in 21 games. Pakistan’s fortunes this tournament will largely depend on how this left-hander fares as the oppositions would be targeting him. 5. Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) This Sri Lankan veteran fast bowler will be making a comeback into the team after nearly a year in the Asia Cup 2018. Lasith Malinga has had a lot of injury woes and inconsistency problems off-late and his pace has gone down considerably. Since 2015, Malinga has struggled to do well with the ball. He has picked only 30 wickets in 27 games since 2015 and has been quite ineffective. His bowling average has gone up to 44.30 against his career average of 28.92. With him making a comeback into the tournament, all eyes will be on him and his performance will decide if he would last till the World Cup 2019. 6. Manish Pandey | India Manish Pandey. (Photo Source: Getty Images) This name in this list could take many people by surprise. After getting several chances and failing to do well, Pandey was axed from the ODI squad for the England tour. There were quite a few question marks on his future but he has put a full stop on all of them with his performance in the recent Quadrangular series. Pandey has led India B team in the tournament and played an important role in helping his team win it. He wasn’t even dismissed once in the entire tournament and scored 306 runs in four games. Hence, he was drafted back into the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2018. It will be quite interesting to see how this dynamic right-hander fares in the tournament.

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Asia Cup 2018: 6 players to watch out for in the tournament

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