5 Indian players who can take the Asia Cup by storm

In a recently discovered world of recognition and stardom, the Indian Women's cricket side has surged to great heights after a great display of come-from-behind performances in the World Cup held in England last year, ultimately falling nine runs tragically shy of the title win. Ever since they have been closely followed and received their share of appraisal from the public avenues. In the light of this, their performances have been enhanced even more and with a new batch of young energetic cricketers in their arsenal, they have developed a fearless and dominating way of going about their game.

Earlier this year they beat South Africa women at home 2-1 in the one-dayers and 3-1 in the following T20 series. Spurred by the overseas successes, they trounced the touring English side in a closely fought series that went 2-1 in India's favor as they somewhat avenged the previous year's rueful loss to them in the finals by winning the decider convincingly.

They will have their hopes high preceding the Asia Cup T20 tournament that starts in the first week of June. Starting as the favorites, they will look to further the bridge between them and the other Asian sides. Here are five Indian players who can set the stage ablaze with their performances.

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1. Harmanpreet Kaur

Recently appointed as the skipper of the T20 side, she will have some work to do after managing only middling performances in India's last series at home. She led the Supernovas side in the one-off Women's T20 Challenge Match and her captaincy stood out. She took a leaf out of David Warner's book of leadership and made as many as fifteen bowling changes, the result being that Trailblazers were restricted to a paltry 129. As much as her batting, look out for her innovative and radical captaincy moves on the field.

The first Indian representative in overseas franchise T20 competitions, Kaur caught the eye of the Sydney Thunder and Surrey Stars with her ability to hit the ball to and beyond the rope at will (remember the onslaught against Australia in the all-important semi-final?), athletic fielding prowess and handy off-spin that is often employed to turn things against the run of the play.

2. Smriti Mandhana

Bespectacled now, Mandhana is more focused than ever.

The deputy skipper of the side goes into the tournament with a stunning run of consistency to boost her morale going into the silverware event. With seven fifties in last nine games and a score of 42 in one of the two "off-days", Mandhana has shaken off the criticism she got in the World Cup last year for being erratic in her performances.

Having found consistency, the stalwart opener from Mumbai can be relied upon to give solid starts at the top of the order as well as hit the long ball if the situation demands it. She has the numbers in the format to inspire the confidence, averaging a shade over 24, striking the ball at 116.21, a rate very respectable for the format. Ranked #7 in the ICC rankings in T20Is, Mandhana forms an integral part of the set-up and her inputs will be crucial to Harmanpreet in the decision-making process.

3. Mithali Raj

She has been around forever now...

The face of Indian women's cricket and one of the legends of the game, it is almost impossible to imagine the team without her now. Having relinquished the T20 captaincy of late, her sole focus now is to contribute with the bat. Often likened to MS Dhoni, she has a role much greater than that, to a fairly young side, she is the one players will look up to in nervy times and will rely on her saintly temperament to go about their business unfazed by the occasion.

Along with Harmanpreeet and Mandhana, she sits in the top 10 T20 batters, perched at number six. Having recently broken out of an unwanted string of single digit scores with a free-flowing unbeaten 74 against England in the series decider, Raj shows no signs of waning prowess. Her style of play is antithetical to her fellow opener, but with an average of 38.76, she is the stable figure around who the swift scorers of the line-up can base themselves.

4. Jemimah Rodrigues

Rodrigues has had a promising start to her career.

In a list comprising a veteran and some cricketers fairly established and acquainted with the nuances of the international scenario, Rodrigues stands out as she is one of the handful international cricketers born in the 21st century. But mistake the teen for a rookie at your own peril, as she has the match awareness and cricketing intelligence equivalent to anyone who has worn their country colors for years now.

In the fourth match of the recently concluded tri-series featuring England and Australia, she put up her name as someone to look out for in the future with a quickfire fifty opening the innings against the lethal new ball connoisseurs of Meghan Schutt and Jess Jonassen. Her strength lies in picking the gaps and relying on fluency over power, this Asia Cup she will be keen to make a name for herself by living up to the potential that was first seen when she was fast-tracked into the side.

5. Poonam Yadav

All of 5'1", Poonam Yadav has found a unique way to puzzle the hitters

The minuscule leggie from Agra, Poonam Yadav came into limelight during the World Cup last year when she displayed a knack for taking wickets in the middle overs, and unlike strike legspinners, she does not have the tendency to bowl the odd long hop or a filthy full toss inviting to be hit. Her stats in the format speak for her, going at less than 6 an over, she strikes once every 15 balls, with 43 wickets in 32 matches.

She has a very particular strength, deceiving the batsmen in the flight of the ball. Her short height allows the balls to be delivered from below the eye-line of the batters and eventually rising above it in the aerial route of it, the players facing her have to constantly shift their focus and often end up getting bamboozled. This is testified by the stat that approximately a third of her ODI wickets are stumped. In the smaller grounds of Malaysia, where the batters will look to go big, she will have a crucial role to play in the Indian side's campaign.