India eager to rediscover winning touch in Dhaka

5-time Asia Cup champions are haunted by bowling frailties

Humiliated and winless for quite a while, a bruised Indian cricket team would seek to rediscover the lost touch in a five-way battle for regional supremacy when the 12^th Asia Cup one-day cricket tournament starts on Tuesday.

India were thoroughly embarrassed in their recent trips to South Africa and New Zealand, failing to win a single match in any format.

And now, India are up for another tough challenge when they square off against arch-rivals Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and debutantes Afghanistan in the subcontinent’s premier ODI event.

Captained by Virat Kohli in the absence of an injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India have been a record five-time Asia Cup champions but can hardly be considered favourites this time around given the way they have faltered in recent months.

The struggles in South Africa and New Zealand have laid bare the team’s bowling frailties and the over-reliance on Kohli in the batting department. The Indians will kick off their campaign on Wednesday with a relatively easy match against hosts Bangladesh here.

But once again, the bestseller of the biennial tournament will be the India-Pakistan marquee match in Mirpur on March 2 when the two traditional foes renew their intense cricketing rivalry. Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in the tournament-opener here tomorrow.

Without the finishing ability of Dhoni, it will be interesting to see how the new-look middle-order — comprising Ajinkya Rahane, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and the classical-mould Cheteshwar Pujara — performs in the slog overs. After being made the captain as Dhoni’s replacement in a tri-series in the West Indies, Kohli had begun with a loss but since then he has been on a roll with seven straight wins. That five of the seven wins came against minnows Zimbabwe tells a different story as Kohli will have a completely different challenge this time.

However, the Lankans will miss veteran Tillakartne Dilshan who was ruled out after picking a finger injury. Lahiru Thirimanne has been included as his replacement. Fourth-ranked Sri Lanka have a chance to displace India from the second spot by winning all their matches, including the final, in the Asia Cup but if India win even one of their matches, they will hold on to their ranking ahead of the April 1 cut-off date.

As for Pakistan, the most sought after match will be the one against India when the two arch-rivals meet for the first time after the ICC Champions Trophy, which Dhoni’s men had won in a rain-affected match.

“It’s always a big challenge to playing against India because there is so much interest in the game. India are a formidable side and we have to be at our best to win,” Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq said ahead of their tournament-opener against Sri Lanka. Fatullah in Narayangonj, a suburban town in south of Dhaka, will host first five league matches before the tournament shifts to Mirpur in Dhaka.

Pakistan, who beat Bangladesh in last year’s final, come to the tournament on the back of series wins over Sri Lanka and South Africa and Misbah and Mohammad Hafeez along with Ahmed Shehzad will be the batting backbone. The bowling department will sorely miss tall left-arm pacer Mohammed Irfan, who has been ousted after injuring his hip.