Indian team have played 12 Asia Cup editions in the ODI format from 1984-2018 and they went on to win six titles. Initially, Team India won four out of the four Asia Cup titles that they participated in from 1984-1995. But in 1997, 2000, 2004, and 2008, the Men in Blue failed to lift the trophy despite reaching the finals on many occasions.
India under MS Dhoni lifted the Asia Cup title in 2010 after 15 years but in the subsequent editions (2012 & 2014) they couldn't reach the finals. India won their sixth ODI Asia Cup title in the 2018 edition under Rohit Sharma's leadership after winning the previous edition (2016) in T20I format. Here, we will have a look at some of the top Indian team squads from past editions.
1. India's squad in the 2018 Asia Cup:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan (VC), MS Dhoni (Wk) - (Captained one game against Afghanistan), Dinesh Karthik (Wk), Manish Pandey, KL Rahul (Wk), Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Khaleel Ahmed, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Withdrawn players:
1. Hardik Pandya (Played just 1 game against Pakistan and withdrawn due to injury)
2. Shardul Thakur (Played just 1 game against Hong Kong and withdrawn due to injury)
3. Axar Patel (Injured while fielding in a match against Pakistan and hence withdrawn)
India remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and went on to lift the trophy in that edition. Shikhar Dhawan (342) and Rohit Sharma (317) were the top two run-scorers of the tournament, while Kuldeep Yadav was the joint-highest (10) wicket-taker with Rashid Khan and Mustafizur Rahman respectively.
Ambati Rayudu, in the middle order, scored 175 runs from six innings at an average of 43.75 while Dinesh Karthik also averaged 48.66 in the tournament. India completely dominated Pakistan in the Group Stage and Super Fours, respectively.
Apart from Kuldeep Yadav, other bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja also picked up 8 and 7 wickets, respectively and helped India to lift the trophy. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal also had 6 wickets to their name each.
MS Dhoni's valuable presence also played a key role when he got an opportunity to play his 200th ODI game as Captain.
