MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly
MS Dhoni. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Former skipper MS Dhoni has joined his team as India has begun their journey to Dubai. India, who is the defending champions of the Asia Cup, will begin their campaign against Hong Kong on 18 September at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Meanwhile, India will be without the services of their full-time skipper Virat Kohli as he is being rested. Thus, it is going to leave a big hole in the side as Kohli is the focal point of the batting line-up.

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni has joined his teammates for the forthcoming tournament. There has been a lot of question marks raised over the place of Dhoni in the side. MS Dhoni hasn’t been able to hit the ground running in the recent past. Therefore, the talisman batsman will like to get back into form.

MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni. Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)

Dhoni will like to get back into form.

MS Dhoni has failed to rotate the strike on regular intervals, especially while facing the spinners. Hence, the right-hander will look to hit the ground running in the UAE.

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On the other hand, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav have returned to the side. Pandey had scored a truckload of runs in the quadrangular series. Meanwhile, Kedar Jadhav has also recovered from the injury he sustained during the IPL. Ambati Rayudu also makes the cut into the squad.

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Rohit Sharma. Asia Cup 2018
Rohit Sharma will lead India in the Asia Cup. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, in the absence of Virat Kohli, the onus is going to be on Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to provide a good platform to the side. There is inexperience in the batting line-up and the openers will need to provide a solid start.

India will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan on 19 September at Dubai. Once again, there is going to be a plethora of pressure and India will look to tick the right boxes. The final of the tournament will take place on September 28 at Dubai.

Here are the photos of the Indian team en route to Dubai.

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