Will India reclaim their status with Asian Cup??
The ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Asia Cup is absolutely one of the most awaited cricketing events. This year it is going to be hosted by Bangladesh. The tournament is between the top cricket teams of the Asia namely India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangaldesh. Hong Kong and UAE are also in the council but have not qualified for the tournament this year since their last appearance in 2008. The tournament’s schedule is released few days back and is as follows:
The tournament is scheduled from 12th – 22nd March 2012 as confirmed by the ACC.
- 1st ODI- Bangladesh Vs Pakistan on March 12th
- 2nd ODI- India Vs Sri Lanka on March 13th
- 3rd ODI- Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka March 15th
- 4th ODI- Bangladesh Vs India March 16th
- 5th ODI- India Vs Pakistan March 18th
- 6th ODI-Bangladesh Vs Sri Lanka March 20th
- 7TH ODI- The final match will be played between the top two teams
All matches are day and night and will be held at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. GMT 08:30.
Till date Sri Lanka have appeared in all the finals of the Asia cup and secured 4 titles and India secured 5 titles which were all won against Sri Lanka in the finals. These statistics clearly indicate that Sri Lanka is a going to offer tough resistance for Indians. The Bangladesh’s best performance is 3rd position in the series in 1986. Pakistan has lost 12 out of 31 matches they have played in their 9 appearances and also they are waiting for vengeance against India since their defeat in 2011 World Cup semis.
The recent performance of Indian team in the Commonwealth Bank Series makes it apparent that the team is out of balance especially in the batting department, Krishnamachari Srikanth and his co-selector committee will have to redesign to put the team back into the former status to assure the victory in the Asian Cup.
The selection Committee is under phenomenal pressure as the Indian cricket fans are demanding to protect their country’s fame in the Asian Cup as 5 time champions. Finally we cannot expect enormous changes but changes are imminent after poor performance in Australia.
