Asia Cup 2018: India's Predicted Squad

MIDDLE ORDER:

Virat Kohli

Skipper Virat has always been India's Mr. Consistent and therefore, the backbone of the Indian batting lineup. He is someone whom no Indian fan can imagine the team without. With extreme levels of consistency and class, along with bagging the top ranks across formats in the ICC Rankings, Kohli will be key to India's title retaining.

Indian Captain Virat Kohli

Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu

IPL 2018 was a revolutionary year for Rayadu, as he created a new identity for himself as an opener and did extremely well. He scored 602 runs in 16 matches with a strike rate of almost 150 and at an excellent average of 43. This was by far, the best season of IPL for Ambati Rayudu, who played very fearlessly and thus, flawlessly. He was initially picked for the Indian squad for the England tour but was later dropped due to his inability to clear the yo-yo test.

With the number four spot in the Indian ODI team up for grab, he would surely want to put forward his case for selection. He would want to work hard to overcome the challenges and make it to the Indian team before 2019 World Cup. The BCCI too, would want to give him one big opportunity to prove himself before the 2019 World Cup.

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer

Owing to his consistency in IPL and the domestic circuit, Shreyas Iyer deserves a chance to play for India. He showed his class and consistency against Sri Lanka in 2017, when he scored 88 and 65 runs in two successive matches. Being part of the ODI playing XIs against South Africa early this year, he failed to make good use of the opportunity.

He was appointed as the captain of Delhi Daredevils midway through the season. The added responsibility of captaincy brought the better out of him as he managed to perform exceedingly well on the personal front. He would hope to perform well in the A-team tours to be in recognition for a national call-up.