Asia Cup 2018: India's ideal Playing XI against Pakistan

6- Dinesh Karthik

Karthik should be given a continuous run

Dinesh Karthik scored 21 off 22 balls in the only one day match he played against England. By virtue of his presence in the earlier one day series in England, he should be preferred ahead of Manish Pandey and Ambati Rayadu. Besides, Karthik is a better player when the team is in sight of the target. He can accelerate at the last leg of a one day match. Karthik can be the new finisher for the team along with Hardik Padya. He deserves a continuous run of matches to prove his value to the team.

7- Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya - The all-rounder

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In the whole of the England series, Hardik Pandya made his presence felt in only one Test at Nottingham which India won. But when it comes to one-day matches, he is more than a useful contributor with both bat and ball. His pace is deceptive and he can bowl at 140 clicks. Pandya’s aggressive batting is best suited for one day cricket. It is high time that Pandya should take the responsibility of a finisher in white ball cricket where his big hitting prowess will come in handy. Pandya is India’s only fast bowling all-rounder existing and should bat at No 7. If the situation demands, he can be promoted up the order

8- Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvi - Good both with the new and old ball

The one player whom India missed the most in the England series was Bhuvneshwar Kumar. India missed his effective swing bowling and late order batting. Now he is back and he is India’s No 1 bowler in white ball cricket. Kumar is good with the new ball as well at the death.

He is also a more than capable batsman at No 8. Often, he has been a part of plenty of valuable partnerships along the tail as well as regular batsmen in crisis situations. The Meerut born bowler has proved an indispensable part of the team.