India wins Asia Cup: Here is the Best Playing XI of Asia Cup 2018

India wins Asia Cup: After India’s victory, let us have a look at the Top Playing XI from the whole tournament.

The 14th edition of the Asia Cup went to Team India after they defeated Bangladesh by 3 wickets in a nerve-wrenching final last night. For India and all the other teams, there were players who stood up during respective times in the tournament.

The optimum permutation and combination of these run-scorers and wicket-takers has resulted in the Best Playing XI of the tournament. The playing XI consists five players from the champion Indian team, three players from Afghanistan, two from the runners-up in Bangladesh and one from Pakistan. Go through the team below:

1. Top-order – Shikhar Dhawan, the highest run-scorer and the Man of the Series of the tournament, is undoubtedly the first name to be included into this playing XI. Dhawan was in prolific form throughout the series. It is worth mentioning that he scored the most runs (342 runs in five matches at an average of 68.40 and a strike rate of 102.08) despite playing a match less than other players.

Mohammad Shahzad, Afghanistan’s wicket-keeper and opening batsman, scored 268 runs in five matches at an average of 53.60 and a strike rate of 83.22. His whirlwind century against India will unequivocally go down as one of the highlights of the Asia Cup.

Rohit Sharma, who captained India to their seventh Asia Cup title, also features in this list for apart from his captaincy, he had fared exceptionally well with the bat, scoring 317 runs in five matches at an average of 105.66 and a strike rate of 93.51.

2. Middle-order – Mushfiqur Rahim, the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament, will play a vital role in the middle-order. In six matches, Rahim scored 302 runs at an average of 60.40 and a strike rate of 81.18.

Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s veteran middle-order batsman, was instrumental with the bat in hand. Without much support from the other end, Malik played several highly responsible innings. Malik has scored 211 runs in five matches at an average of 70.33 and a strike rate of 80.53.

Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi was their second-highest run-scorer and fifth overall in the tournament, scoring 263 runs at an average of 65.75 and a strike rate of 72.25. Ravindra Jadeja, the Indian all-rounder who was called into the team as an injury replacement, clinched seven wickets in four matches at an average of 22.28, an economy rate of 4.45 and a strike rate of 30. Jadeja even played a couple of sensible innings with the bat towards the business end of the tournament.

3. Bowlers – This Asia Cup was another contemporary tournament where Rashid Khan ended up as the highest wicket-taker, picking up 10 wickets in five matches at an average of 17.20, an economy rate of 3.72 and a strike rate of 27.7. Alongside Kuldeep Yadav, the duo will make one of the most deceptive bowling attacks of the recent years. In six matches, Yadav had 10 wickets to his name, which had come at an average of 23.70, an economy rate of 4.08 and a strike rate of 34.8.

Mustafizur Rahman was also the joint-highest wicket-taker, dismissing 10 batsmen in six matches at an average of 18.50, an economy rate of 4.40 and a strike rate of 25.2. Rahman will be accompanied by his Mumbai Indians teammate in Jasprit Bumrah, who had eight wicket under his belt in the four matches that he played.

Asia Cup Best Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Shoaib Malik, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ravindra Jadeja, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman and Jasprit Bumrah.

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