Asia Cup | India have a great mix of youth and experience, reveals Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar believes that the Indian squad has a unique mix of youth and valuable experience ahead of the Virat Kohli-less side beginning their Asia Cup campaign against Hong Kong today. Gavaskar also revealed that bowling department, especially the spinners, will play a crucial role for India.
The Indian team is set to battle it out against their Asian counterparts in the ongoing Asia Cup being played in the UAE. BCCI selectors have opted to rest Virat Kohli, which has meangt that Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, will lead the side in the Asian showpiece this month.
And former Indian batsman, Sunil Gavaskar, in his column for TOI, revealed that India are blessed with a unique combination of youth and experience in the squad. The Test legend singled-out former captain, MS Dhoni, as an invaluable member of the team and heaped praise on the Ranchi-born cricketer for guiding the young spinners.
"India's first game against Hong Kong will be a nice warmup for the sterner battle the next day against Pakistan. How the organisers scheduled two back-to-back games for India - with the second game being against Pakistan - is hard to understand, but that's the way it is. Hong Kong have got to the Emirates after a hard-fought qualifying event, beating some other fancied associate teams in the bargain. They were overwhelmed by Pakistan in their first game and will now be looking to better their efforts against India.
"India have a great mix of youth and experience and their skipper Rohit Sharma loves the 50-over format and will look to add a couple of tons to his record. He is fortunate to have MS Dhoni besides him to guide him during tough times. Dhoni's experience is a priceless commodity that's impossible to quantify and his guidance of the young spinners is legendary," Gavaskar wrote for TOI.
Gavaskar added that while India have come to be known for their batting prowess in recent years, its the bowlers who have done well in the past few months. The spin magic of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav wrecked havoc in South Africa and will hope to dominate this time as well.
"India's batting is generally the star attraction but this time around the variety they have in their bowling is also worth going miles to see. The two wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, in their different ways pick wickets regularly and then the way they rush to congratulate each other is reminiscent of the great spin quartet of the 70s, who also took great delight in each other's success.
"Normally India would like to bat first to give their batsmen valuable game time, but because they play Pakistan the very next day, they would like to finish the game early and reserve energy for that much-anticipated encounter. To do that they would have to win the toss and so it will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma has better luck than Virat Kohli," added Gavaskar.
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