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The Asia Cup begins on Saturday with top cricketers including India superstar Virat Kohli and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam in action in the United Arab Emirates. Here are five players to watch in the six-nation tournament, which is an important warm-up for the T20 World Cup in Australia in October.
All eyes would be on Virat Kohli when India start their Asia Cup campaign against Pakistan on August 28. In recent times, the former India captain has time and again failed to come close to the consistency that he once exuded. While he has failed to score a ton since November, 2019, Kohli's recent form has been far from satisfactory. He failed to score big on the Tour of England in all three formats. He was rested for the Tour of West Indies as well as Zimbabwe and will be making a comeback in the Asia Cup.
The Asia Cup 2022 will see arch-rivals Indian cricket team and Pakistan cricket team facing each other on August 28. Every time these two teams face off on the cricket field, the focus and scrutiny on the match is intense. The last time the two teams played each other, at the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pakistan emerged victorious to register their first-ever win against India in a World Cup contest. Virat Kohli was the captain of the Indian side then, whereas Rohit Sharma is the skipper now.
The Indian cricket team has landed in Dubai for the Asia Cup 2022 which starts on August 27. The Rohit Sharma-led side will begin its campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan cricket team on August 28. All eyes are on that clash. Ahead of the big match, players from both the teams met each other in Dubai. Players from the Afghanistan side were also present. In a video uploaded by the BCCI on its social media handles, the likes of Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal could be seen chatting with the likes of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi. However, the focus was on Virat Kohli as he met with Pakistan captain Babar Azam.
A day after Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid tested positive for COVID-19, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman was named the interim head coach of the side for the 2022 Asia Cup. The availability of Dravid for the Asia Cup was in doubt after he tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. It is important to note that Dravid had not travelled with the team to Zimbabwe for the three-match ODI series, that concluded on Monday. Laxman was the coach of the team in Zimbabwe.
Former India captain Virat Kohli's batting form in 2022 has been the biggest topic of discussion in cricketing circles. While Kohli's lack of centuries since 2019 was a concern for Indian cricket, his form overall wasn't as he was getting good scores across all formats. But the year 2022 has seen a big dip in his scores as he has failed to get big runs under his belt in Tests, ODIs and event T20s (including IPL).
Is Virat Kohli the same cricketer that he once was? Recent stats would answer in the negative. While his career average in Tests is 49.53, but since January 2022, it's only 31.42 in the longest format. In ODIs, his career average is 57.68, but in 2022, it's 21.87. In T20Is too, his average this year is 20.25, while his career average is 50.12. All those stats point to the fact that the former India captain is not having a great time on the field. After being rested for the Tour of West Indies and Zimbabwe, Kohli will be making a comeback in the Asia Cup.
Indian opener Shubman Gill has jumped a whopping 45 places to be ranked 38th in the ICC ODI rankings released on Wednesday. The 22-year-old youngster had a memorable outing in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe that also saw him scoring his maiden ton (130 off 97 balls) in the last game in Harare. Meanwhile, former Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who did not feature in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, held on to his fifth position with a rating points of 744.