Asia Cup 2018: What makes India the Favourites to Win the Tournament

The 14th edition of Asia Cup is scheduled to begin from September 15 at UAE and the participating teams are already making strategies that will help them win the trophy.

Five teams viz India, Pakistan, SriLanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are already confirmed for the tournament while as 6 teams will clash for the sixth post in qualifier round which will begin from 29th of this month.

The teams have been split into two groups of three, whereafter the top two teams will progress to the Super Four section of the tournament. As the tournament made a shift back to ODI format this season, India would be looking forward to selecting the best possible squad and conquer the title.

There are several things that make India the favourites to lift the tourney. Here we listed four of them.

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#4 Defending Champions

India are the defending champions of Asia Cup. They were unbeaten throughout the 2016 edition, which surely will act as the booster for them in the upcoming event.

The tournament featured five teams and was the first T20I edition of Asia Cup. India started with trouncing hosts, Bangladesh in the initial match while as finished by defeating them again in the finals.

Virat Kohli with 153 runs in five matches was the best batsman while as Hardik Pandya was highest wicket-taker for India in the tournament. India would want them and others to perform similarly in this year's event as well.

#3 Recent Form

India has won six out of nine ODIs, they played in 2018 which includes a 5-1 series win in South Africa earlier this year.

India lost the recent ODI series against England by 2-1, though that won't affect them much owing to the form their players have shown in recent past.

India has been placed in Group B alongside Pakistan and TBD(winner's of qualifier round), which means they have the better chances to qualify for next round. The other participating excluding Pakistan had been going through hard patch recently in ODI cricket, giving India an extra edge.

#2 Mystery Spin-Duo

After the Ashwin-Jadeja pair ruled India spin department for years, it has made a shift recently with the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav taking place of the former combination.

They have shared 44 wickets in nine ODIs this year and were the main force behind India's huge series win in South Africa.

The wickets in UAE are mostly on bit slowish side which means these two can be pretty lethal for India in the tournament. Their contribution can surely take India to Asia Cup victory.

#1 Top ODI Ranking

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India with 121 rating is currently on number two in the ICC ODI rankings, way ahead of other participating teams of the tournament.

Among other teams, Pakistan is on 5th, Bangladesh and SriLanka on 7th and 8th while as Afghanistan stands on 10th rank.

In player rankings as well, India occupies the first spot in both batting and bowling ranks. Skipper, Virat Kohli stands number one in batting while as the medium pacer, Jasprit Bumrah holds the top spot in bowling. Two more Indian batsmen viz Rohit Sharma and southpaw Shikhar Dhawan own the space in Top 10 batsmen.

Moreover, Kuldeep Yadav falls on 5th position and Yuzvendar Chahal on 9th in the bowling rankings. The rankings surely add in the confidence of players and team and might make India win the 2018 edition of Asia Cup.