Advertisement
The historic Asia Cup, which will decide the champion of the Asian continent in cricket, will begin on August 27 in the United Arab Emirates. As a preparation for the T20 World Cup to be held in October, the 6 participating nations have announced their squads to win this 20-over series. The 15-member Indian team, led by Rohit Sharma, will face arch-rivals Pakistan in their first match on August 28.
The last time these two teams clashed at the same Dubai soil, Pakistan led by Babar Azam beat India led by Virat Kohli by 10 wickets and rewrote history by defeating India in the World Cup for the first time in history. Therefore, there is an expectation among the fans that the humiliated India will retaliate under the leadership of Rohit Sharma this time.
– Advertisement –
Returning Goalie:
However, India is expected to perform well this time and retain the title as the successful team having won 7 trophies and the defending champions of the last Asia Cup 2018. Also, the final team to play in the T20 World Cup will be selected in this Asia Cup.
In such a situation, the promising star Virat Kohli, who is suffering from a poor form after last 2019, has 3 golden ducks in the recent IPL series and is facing severe criticism from former players like Kapil Dev to remove him from the team as he has not scored a half century in the England tour. However, with the support of legends like Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting, he is under pressure to return to form in this Asia Cup to secure a spot in the World Cup squad.
– Advertisement –
In this case, former Pakistani player Danish Kaneria has said that Virat Kohli should perform well in this Asia Cup to break such criticism and get a place in the T20 World Cup.
Do not visit the farm:
Here’s what he talked about in his latest YouTube video: “Virat Kohli will have to make a huge comeback in this Asia Cup if he wants to play in the T20 World Cup. He needs to put in an impressive performance to hook him deep into the team. Because it’s a tough decision when you simply keep a big player like him in the team and then bench him. However, Pakistan hopes that he will continue in this modest form. Because someone like him will become very dangerous if he goes back to his old form,” he said.
– Advertisement –
Earlier in last year’s T20 World Cup, the star fast bowler Sachin Afridi, who helped Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to score a half-century to win with his great bowling, withdrew from the Asia Cup due to injury, causing a huge setback for Pakistan. Danish Kaneria has criticized the team management for making him play in the recent Sri Lankan series and giving him unnecessary workload before this important series.
“Shaheen is still in good form. But I keep asking the Pakistan team management not to make your trump bowler play in all the matches. Because that’s why you have to face an injury in such an important match. He is currently in the Netherlands ODI series with the Pakistan team and if he does not play in the 3rd match, there will be a situation of getting out of the Asia Cup. It will be good for India and bad for Pakistan,” he said.
Advertisement