Note: The second part of the series featuring India, Pakistan and Afghanistan will appear soon. Watch this space.
Aeons ago, in the sweltering heat of Sharjah, a tri-series involving India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan was held. It was a low-profile series, with India usurping Pakistan by 54 runs to be crowned the inaugural Asia Cup champions. Some four decades later, on the eve of the 16th edition of the Asia Cup, it can safely be said that the profile of the tournament has increased tenfold. Just to illustrate the point further, an India-Pakistan game is set to cost an advertiser a whopping Rs 25-30 lakh for a 10-second TV slot.
The Asia Cup 2023 wouldn’t just be about India and Pakistan going head-to-head in an international match, as a potential clash between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Super Fours or Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Group B is also set to grab eyeballs. There is enough curiosity surrounding Nepal, the new entrants to the tournament. The Nepal team has a huge fan base back home. Interest in the tournament will be tremendous in the land of ‘Sagarmatha’.
Group A comprises Pakistan, India and Nepal. Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are in Group B. The matches will be played across two nations: Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Here’s a lowdown on the teams…
Nepal: The Rohit Paudel-led side play the opening fixture against Pakistan in Multan. Subsequently, they will take on India on September 4. The debutants have been in form in the recent past, having won 11 of their last 12 games in World Cup League 2, which put them in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Nepal made it to the Asia Cup on the back of their comfortable win over the UAE in the ACC Premier Cup. Although Nepal suffered reversals in the Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, they would be brimming with confidence. The essence of their fine performance in World Cup League 2 and Premier Cup was depth in batting.
Lower down the order, the likes of Karan KC, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sompal Kami and Gulsan Jha can chip in. Gulsan played vital roles against the UAE in World Cup League 2 and Premier Cup. He can also bowl at a decent burst of pace.
Nepal would depend on their canny spinners — Sandeep Lamichhane, Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi & Co — to whittle away at the opposition ranks. In batting, the young Kushal Bhurtel would be expected to shore up the innings. They would trust Paudel to regain rhythm after a rather modest show in the Qualifiers. Under Monty Desai, Nepal have tended to be flexible with their batting order. We could see some deft tactical manoeuvres.
First match: Against Pakistan, Multan, August 30.
Sri Lanka: The co-hosts are grappling with injury woes. Lahiru Kumara and Dilshan Madushanka, the pace-bowling duo, have been ruled out because of side strain and oblique tear, respectively. Dushmantha Chameera has been laid low by a shoulder injury. Injury concerns don’t end there, as Wanindu Hasaranga, the spin-spearhead, isn’t in the squad due to a thigh problem.
Sri Lanka have called up the inexperienced Matheesha Pathirana to bolster bowling stocks. Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando and Pramod Madushan are the other available options. When Fernando last played for Sri Lanka, in a T20 World Cup game against Australia, he could only bowl only five deliveries before suffering an injury.
In the spin department, Dunith Wellalage and leg-spinning all-rounder Dushan Hemantha have got the nod. In the absence of some senior bowlers, the onus would be on Maheesh Theekshana to become the fulcrum of the attack. The mystery spinner has decent variations, including the back-spinner and off-break.
Batting collapses have also been a bugbear for the home side. Incidentally, after they lost wickets in a heap against the Netherlands in the Qualifiers, Naveed Nawaz, the batting coach, went on to say, “The batting is a bit of concern”. In that backdrop, Sri Lanka have recalled the experienced Dimuth Karunaratne. The southpaw did his bit in Zimbabwe by giving sure-footed starts.
First match: Against Bangladesh, Pallekele, August 31.
Bangladesh: They have an ideal mix of youth and experience. Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan bring enough maturity to the table.
Bangladesh selectors have picked as many as five members from the set-up that won the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa in 2019-20 – Towhid Hridoy, Shoriful Islam, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Hridoy, a middle-order bat, has made a noteworthy start to his ODI career, averaging just under 50 in nine matches.
Shoriful, the left-armer, underpins Bangladesh’s ever-increasing depth in the pace department. The young Tanzid has been selected in place of the injured Tamim Iqbal. Tanzid provided solid starts in the ACC Emerging Cup. Meanwhile, Tanzim could turn out to be a useful all-rounder.
There are still a few areas for Bangladesh to address. Litton found runs hard to come by in a few games in the LPL. His tendency to go too far back and across is perhaps not helping his cause.
Despite a few shortcomings, the Shakib-led side would be quietly confident of upsetting the applecart and bagging their maiden Asia Cup title.
First match: Against Sri Lanka, Pallekele, August 31.