Asia Cup 2018: Combined XI Of Players Who Are Playing Their First Asia Cup

All eyes will be on Asia Cup when some of the best teams in the world cricket lock horns to gain Asian supremacy. The fourteenth edition of the competition will be played in United Arabia Emirates.

Now that the fans are desperately waiting to see the Asian heavyweights fight it out, we take a look at eleven players who are playing this event for the first time and can make a big impact.

Fakhar Zaman:

A former Pakistani Navy Sailor who made impact in the 2017 Champions trophy Final by hitting a ton against arch-rivals India. Zaman is having a joyful ride since he made hiss debut. He scored an unbeaten 210* against Zimbabwe and became the first Pakistani to do so. The southpaw also reached 1000 ODI runs in the same series and holds the record of fastest to 1000 runs in ODIs. He scored 515 runs in the Zimbabwe series and recorded the most runs scored by a batsman between two dismissals in ODIs, with 455.

Liton Das:

A young talented Bangladeshi who can accumulate quick runs and also a regular Wicket-keeper. Liton Das made his debut against India in 2015 . Das has been selected in the squad for Bangladesh and will be the batting at top of the order with Tamim Iqbal. He will feature as wicket-keeper in our list.

KL Rahul:

KL Rahul had been a regular player for India for the past few months and has grabbed his chances in the shorter format quite well. Rahul, known for his hard hitting at the top order, made his way into the side as a Test batsman but his succes in IPL over the years forced the selectors to try in the shorter format of the game. He has two T20I century and one ODI century to his name. Rahul will be coming from a horrific England tour where he scored just 9 runs in two innings in the ODIs. He will eye to score big in absence of Virat Kohli to seal his spot for the World Cup squad.

Babar Azam:

Babar Azam is the next big thing in Pakistan Cricket. Just 23 years old, Azam has already made an impact in his 46 match career. Azam is one of the three Pakistani players to score three consecutive ODI centuries when he notched up 360 runs against the West Indies in 2016. Azam thus became the only player to score over 350 runs in a three match ODI series. He was previously selected in the 2016 Asia Cup but was later withdrawn due to injury. Babar Azam is currently the World No.2 ODI batsman behind Virat Kohli and averages 54.80 in the ODIs.

Manish Pandey:

Manish Pandey is a 28 year old middle order batsman who made his way in to the team through his heroics in the coveted Indian Premier League. Pandey is very talented and plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket. Pandey has represented India in 22 ODIs and scored 432 runs at an impressive average of 39.42. He also have an ODI ton when he chased down 331 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground against the Australians. Pandey had a run fest in the recently concluded quadrangular series vs Australia A, South Africa A and India A.

Shadab Khan:

Shadab Khan is one of the young talents which Pakistan found after the 2015 World Cup. He is just 19 years old but sealed his place as a wrist spinner who can bat well lower down the order. Shadab was in the Pakistan squad which triumphed in the 2017 Champions Trophy. He has played 22 ODIs so far, picking 33 wickets and also have 3 fifties to his name.

Rashid Khan:

Rashid Khan’s rise to global Cricket is nothing less than a fairy-tale. Rashid Khan is vastly experienced and he is yet to turn 20 years old. He is a regular name in the global T20 leagues and found success in each of them. Regarded as a mystery spinner, Rashid Khan is the current world no.2 ODI Bowler and has broken the record of fastest to 100 ODI wickets. He also captained Afghanistan during the World Cup qualifiers which Afghanistan won to qualify for the main event.

Rashid also played in the 2016 Asia Cup Qualifiers but his side failed to qualify after losing to UAE in the very first match. Rashid will be the skipper of our list and could possibly turn out to be the best bowler in the tournament.

Kuldeep Yadav:

Kuldeep Yadav started as left arm pace bowler but soon changed into a chinaman and the decision turned out to be masterstroke. Being a chinaman he grabbed many eye balls and eventually selected for the U19 World Cup squad. He took a hattrick in the tournament and was later picked in the IPL by Kolkata Knight Riders. His success with KKR helped him break into the Indian team. Yadav made an immediate impact in the T20s with his bowling partner Yuzvendra Chahal as the duo replaced Jadeja-Ashwin in the ODIs as well. Yadav took 17 wickets in South Africa this year and later took a 6/25 against England to register the best bowling figures by a chinaman bowler in an ODI.

Yuzvendra Chahal:

Yuzvendra Chahal’s ride to success was mainly due to his impact in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Chahal was picked in the second string squad for the Zimbabwe tour for the first time in 2016 and impressed everyone with his wrist spin. He was then considered to replace the experienced Ravi Ashwin and he successfully grabbed the opportunity by taking a 6-fer versus England in an T20I. Chahal has a habit of taking important wickets during the middle overs and has thus become India’s go-to man. Chahal has taken 45 wickets in his 25 ODI matches career and is currently among the top 10 bowlers in the ICC rankings.

Akila Dananjaya:

The modern day cricket is mostly ruled by spinners and Akila Dananjaya is one of the name from Sri Lanka. Dananjaya was drafted into the squad by Mahela Jaywardene, who was impressed in the nets by his variations. He made his debut without playing any domestic matches. Dananjaya soon made his mark by troubling the visiting Indian side, when he took 5 wickets in a span of 13 deliveries. Dananjaya took 6 wickets in that match. In 2018, Dananjaya again took a 6-fer for Sri Lanka against the South Africans and helped Sri Lanka to win after a series of losses in the ODIs. He can also bat lower down the order and has a fifty as well.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman:

The number 11 in our squad will also be a spinner who made his debut at the age of 16 years and 235 days. Mujeeb Ur Rahman is an young unorthodox spinner who mostly bowls in the opening overs of the innings and till now he has been a mystery to solve. Mujeeb is an off-break bowler but bowls the leg-spinners and doosras often. He played in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup and took the Afghanistan side to the Semi-Finals. Mujeeb is the youngest bowler to take a Five-for in ODIs. He took 17 wickets in this year’s ICC World Cup Qualifiers and was the joint highest wicket taker in the tournament. Mujeeb has 35 wickets to his name in 17 ODIs he played.