From Surya's form to a fiery top-three: How pros and cons shape up for India ahead of Asia Cup

New Delhi [India], September 2 (ANI): Team India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, heads into the upcoming Asia Cup as a formidable unit. Following the departure of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the batting line-up, a young Men in Blue side has clearly taken inspiration from Rohit's T20 World Cup-winning formula of going hard from ball one and has walked the talk with even more brutality, thrill, and record-breaking feats to show for.

Team India's quest for Asian supremacy will kickstart from September 10 against the UAE, with the hotly anticipated India-Pakistan clash taking place on September 14, followed by their last league match against the UAE on September 19. Following this, the super four stage will start from September 20.

A look into the team's form:

Ahead of the continental event, since the last T20 World Cup, India has played in 20 T20Is, winning 16, losing just three of them and tying one. Coming to bilateral series, India has won all the five bilateral series it contested against Zimbabwe (in Zimbabwe, by 4-1), against Sri Lanka (in Sri Lanka by 2-0), against Bangladesh (at home by 3-0), against South Africa (in South Africa by 3-1) and against England (at home by 4-1).

Positives ahead of the tournament:

-A fiery approach to T20Is: After last year's T20 World Cup triumph, India has had a collective strike rate of 155.83, second to Australia (158.98). Under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, Team India continues to excel on the motto of going hard, match-by-match, ball-by-ball. Amongst the full member nations, they have hit 195 sixes (second-best to West Indies which has 237 sixes). Also, since the last T20 WC, they have most amount of centuries scored by a team, a total of seven! Team India rocks this explosive approach to T20Is led by a top three of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma, who have scored all these seven centuries. India's top three strikes at 173.08 and accounts of a massive 124 sixes, the highest among all Test-playing nations.

-A variety of all-rounders: Team India has a variety of all-rounders to support its bowling line-up, with Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel capable of delivering useful overs of spin and the pair of Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube present to let the main bowling line-up led by Jasprit Bumrah breathe.

-A red-hot Varun Chakravarthy: The spinner has trapped the batters worldwide in his spin trap since returning to international cricket last year. He is the top spinner in T20Is across all Test-playing T20I teams, with 31 scalps in just 12 innings at an average of 11.25 and an economy rate of 8.9, including two five-wicket hauls. His bowling average is the best among spinners from Test-playing nations, with over 10 matches and 20 wickets in hand since last WC. Using the same criteria, his bowling strike rate also stands at the top. Without a doubt, he is amongst the first players on the team sheet.

-Return of Jasprit Bumrah to T20Is: 'Jassi Bhai' returning to coloured clothing is perhaps the biggest positive. The last time he wore the T20I colours, he was the 'Player of the Tournament' in the T20 WC with 15 wickets in eight matches at an average of 8.26. His presence will surely add a lot to Indian pace attack, blessed with Arshdeep Singh's left-arm angle, Harshit Rana's height, pace and bounce and clutch abilities of Hardik Pandya.

Some things India needs to be concerned about heading into the tournament

-Suryakumar Yadav's form: Suryakumar, not-so-long-ago ruling the world, defying science with his audacious, 360-degree, unconventional shot-making, has struggled as a batter ever since taking up the leadership. With just 258 runs in 14 innings since the T20 World Cup win at a sub-par average of 18.42 and just two half-centuries, Surya is not delivering as consistently as expected. If Team India is to win the Asia Cup, they will need 'Supla Shots' in plenty.

-Rinku Singh's dip: The left-hander who shot to fame by smashing five sixes of five successive deliveries of Yash Dayal to pull off a remarkable run-chase in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, has been struggling for form as well, having made 130 runs in nine innings after the last WC at a poor average of 16.25, with just one half-century. While such occasional dips come with his style of play and position in the middle-order, often at six or seven, his strike rate of 126.21 is concerning.

-Gill's entry potentially causing a top-order shake up: With Shubman Gill entering the tournament as a vice-captain, the top-order batter is guaranteed all games. It could shake up the already strong top-order of Abhishek-Samson-Tilak and even cause one of them to get omitted from the team sheet. Disturbing a combination which has produced such winning results in recent times could be a disastrous move, with Gill's strike rate of over 139 being the least among them. Either Samson could get the axe or play down the order, where he has produced poor results. Jitesh Sharma could play, who has had a poor run in T20Is, with just 100 runs in seven innings at an average of just over 14 and no fifties.

Team India squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

Reserve players: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal. (ANI)

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