Asia Cup 2018: Top 5 Bowlers to watch out for in this year’s competition
The 14th edition of Asia Cup 2018 will be played from 15 to 28 September. Six teams will compete in the competition in the tournament spanning over two weeks in the desert shores of UAE.
Hong Kong beat the United Arab Emirates in the final of Asia Cup Qualifiers and will be the sixth team in the competition. The six teams have distributed into the Group A and Group B. There will be plenty of world-class bowlers on display in this year’s competition.
From India’s mystery spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has taken the world by storm to Hasan Ali, who has been instrumental in Pakistan’s consistent success in the limited-overs cricket.
Asia Cup will be a great platform for bowlers to showcase their skills in front of jam-packed audiences in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
So, Let’s take a look at our top five bowlers who can dominate the proceedings in this year’s Asia Cup.
Kuldeep Yadav
First on the list features Kuldeep Yadav, who has been phenomenal for India in one-day cricket. He has topped the bowling charts for India with 48 wickets from 23 games at an average of 19.35. Left-arm Chinaman was simply phenomenal for India in the ODI and T20I series against England.
He produced his career-best performance in limited-overs cricket against England by picking up 6 for 25 in the game played at Trent Bridge. He flummoxed England’s strong batting with a bag of variations. He was instrumental in India’s winning their maiden one-day series in South Africa.
Yadav will certainly be the bowler to watch out in Asia Cup 2018 as surfaces in Abu Dhabi and Dubai will suit his style of bowling. Generally, the pitches in UAE provide assistance to spinners.
Hasan Ali
There is little doubt that Hasan Ali has been Pakistan’s premier bowler in limited-overs cricket. He is currently ranked third in the ICC ODI Rankings for Bowlers. Hasan Ali has been used by Pakistan as a wicket-taking option in the middle overs of the innings.
The 24-year old became the quickest bowler from Pakistan to reach 50 wickets in one-day cricket. He was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
Rashid Khan
Afghanistan’s premier spinner has been superb so far in limited-overs cricket. He is one of finest leg-spinners in world cricket at the moment. He is a premier bowler for Afghanistan and has picked up crucial wickets for his side.
Since 2017, Rashid has picked up 81 wickets from 31games at an average of 11.98 with four five-wicket hauls to his name. His best bowling figures of 7 for 18 came against West Indies in a one-day game played at Gros Islet. He was leading wicket-taker for Afghanistan in recent one-day series played against Ireland.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza
Bangladesh captain has always tried to lead from the front. He will certainly to provide crucial breakthroughs for Bangladesh with the new-ball. He has picked up 247 wickets in limited-overs cricket since making his debut in 2001.
He has formed a nice new-ball partnership with Mustafizur Rahman in one-day cricket. He was leading wicket-taker in Bangladesh’s one-day series triumph in the West Indies. Bangladesh will be hoping that Mortaza can bring his A-game to the table in the upcoming Asia Cup 2018.
Akila Dhananjaya
Akila Dhananjaya has been Sri Lanka’s go-to bowler in limited-overs cricket. The off-spinner has been in decent form in one-day cricket and also picked up 6 for 29 against South Africa in the recently concluded one-day series.
Sri Lanka will be hoping that he can deliver with the ball in hand in this year’s competition. Since 2017, Dhananjaya has picked up 35 wickets from 23 matches at an average of 29.34.
