Asia Cup 2018: India's Ideal XI for Pakistan Encounter

As the BCCI released India's squad for upcoming Asia Cup, everyone is looking forward to witnessing the mega encounter between the arch-rivals, India and Pakistan.

The 2018 edition of Asia Cup is scheduled to begin from 15th September at UAE. A total of six teams who have been arranged in two groups will battle for the title.

Both India and Pakitan have been placed in Group 'B' and they will face each other at Dubai International Stadium on 19th September.

Fans across the borders are excited to see the arch-rivals play in Asia Cup, so are the cricket enthusiasts of the whole World.

The playing XI always remains an interesting matter for both players as well as the fans. In this piece, we tried to find who could be the ideal eleven for India for this important match:

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TOP ORDER

Since the skipper, Virat Kohli has been playing non-stop cricket, selectors decided to rest him for the tournament, giving Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma the opportunity to lead the side in the mega event.

He, along with southpaw Shikhar Dhawan, will open the innings for India. The two have had a decent record in ODIs and have been opening for India for a long time now.

In Kohli's absence, KL Rahul will manage the all-important number three spot. Kl has batted at number three for India in Tests, so he is the best choice to go with.

MIDDLE ORDER

The middle order has been a concern for India and selectors have included some in-form players to make sure the middle order does the job in the Asia Cup.

The in-form batsman, Manish Pandey who was the hero for his team India B in the recently concluded Quadrangular series, would surely bat at number four as the 28 years old made many runs in the series at this place.

While the insertion of Ambati Rayudu who has been in tremendous touch this year has strengthened Indian batting order further. The Andhra right-handed batsman will be the ideal choice for number five, especially against Pakistan's strong bowling line-up.

WICKETKEEPER/ALL-ROUNDER

India named two wicket-keepers for Asia Cup in the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik. Karthik has though been in good touch recently, mostly in shorter format but India can't drop experienced campaigner MS Dhoni for the vital Pakistan encounter.

Meanwhile, India might like to stick with all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the Baroda cricketer will be handy lower the order while can bowl in middle as well. Axar Patel too is part of the squad, yet Pandya would be a better choice to play.

BOWLERS

The spin department will be handled by the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Both were quite successful in South Africa and will play a major role for India in upcoming Asia Cup at UAE where wickets mostly remain on bit slower side.

With experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar back into the side, means he will head the pace battery, along Jasprit Bumrah. How these two will bowl in the tournament, will decide on India's stand in the tourney particularly against arch-rivals, Pakistan.

So, the playing eleven sums as under:

Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Kl Rahul, Manish Pandey, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadaw, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah