DHAKA, Aug 28, 2023 (BSS)- The 16th edition of the Asia Cup, a regional

cricket tournament, starts on Wednesday with the participating teams focusing
on to have a fine tune ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Pakistan will take on Nepal in the opening game at Multan to kick-start the
tournament.

This is the first time that the tournament is being co-hosted by multiple
countries, with four matches taking place in Pakistan and the remaining nine
in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan basically were the host of the tournament but the political turmoil
between them and India forced the event to be shared by two countries.

India are the most successful team in the tournament, winning it for seven
times while Sri Lanka came second to them with six trophies.

Pakistan won the tournament only twice. Bangladesh who of late had made them
an ODI giant reached the final three times but failed to win it.

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have each missed one edition of the Asia Cup
leaving Sri Lanka as the only team to have competed in every tournament since
1984.

The format of the Asia will be ODI this time, considering the ODI World Cup
in India later this year. In fact the organisers decided to hold Asia Cup
according to the format of the World Cup since 2016. Therefore the 2016 and
2022 Asia Cup was a T20 format tournament.

The decision was taken only to give the teams a perfect preparation platform
for the World Cup.

Last time when the ODI format Asia Cup held was in 2018, a tournament in
which Bangladesh moved to the final but despite a blitzkrieg century of Liton
Das, they failed to overcome an Indian juggernaut.

In 2022, which was T20 format Asia Cup, Sri Lanka became champions. So, T20
format Asia Cup defending champion is Sri Lanka while ODI format Asia Cup
reigning champion is India.

Apart from Nepal, other five teams of the Asia Cup will play World Cup and
hence the tournament is crucial for them to sort out their shortcomings and
other problems.

But the eventual question is who will be the favourite to clinch the trophy.
On paper India are the strongest outfit while Bangladesh of late proved they
can win against any team in any condition now at least in ODI format.

Sri Lanka had to play the Qualifier to confirm their World Cup spot but their
Asia Cup record is enviable. Moreover , they will play at their own backyard
and needless to say, they will be tough nuts to crack even though most of
their crucial players will miss the tournament, either due to injury or due
to Covid-19.

Pakistan though are not historically successful in Asia Cup, one simply can't
write them off due to their unpredictable nature. Moreover under the
inspiring leadership of super calm Babar Azam, they became one of the most
consistent teams in the world.

Afghanistan lacked consistency in ODI format but on their given day, they can
beat any side in the world. Their batting depth is questionable but they can
amend batting failure with their world class spin attack, led by Rashid Khan.

Nepal are the other team, who will be happy if they can upset any side. But
it is sure India and Pakistan will use their match against Nepal only to
prepare them for the big match.

However as per the stat since 2018 Asia Cup, India and Bangladesh are the
most successful teams amongst the six teams of this tournament in ODI format
of cricket.

In the last five years, India's winning ratio is 61.90 as they won 52
matches, playing 84 while Bangladesh's ratio is 59.09 as they played 66
matches and won 39.

Pakistan's winning ratio is 52.63 after winning 30 matches in 57. Sri Lanka
on 31 matches out of 71 and their winning ratio is only 43.66. Afghanistan's
winning ratio is 40.90 as they won 18 amongst their 44 matches.

Former Pakistan captain and legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram meanwhile
refused to pick any favourites for the tournament.

Akram said the road will be tough for all sides but at the same time, he said
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka shouldn't be taken lightly as the both of the teams
have the credential to clinch the trophy.

"Last time we had predicted an India versus Pakistan final but Sri Lanka won
the competition. All three teams are dangerous - anyone can win on their
day," Akram told reporters during a tournament sponsor's event

"There are other teams competing too. Last time Sri Lanka won the title,
India even failed to make it to the final. India versus Pakistan is very
important, we know about so much support (teams get), so many eyeballs, so
many people (following). But other teams are also here to play so you cannot
minus Sri Lanka or Bangladesh," he added.
 
Squad of the participating teams in Asia Cup:

Group A

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq,
Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab
Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim
Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel and Tayyab Tahir (travelling
reserve)
 
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill,
Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra
Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed
Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna and Sanju Samson (travelling reserve)

Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Kushal
Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan
KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish GC, Mousom Dhakal, Sundeep
Jora, Kishore Mahato and Arjun Saud
 
Group B

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Liton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid
Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin
Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi
Hasan, Naim Sheikh, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Tanzim Hasan Sakib

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran,
Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil,
Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf,
Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Suliman Safi and Fazalhaq Farooqi

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (C), Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal
Perera, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de
Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod
Madushan, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka and Matheesha Pathirana.