India, Pakistan in focus as Asia Cup gets under way today in Abu Dhabi

 Batsmen will bid to enthrall the aficionados with some captivating display of prowess and powerful hitting to satiate their insatiable appetite for boundaries and sixes as the 17th edition of the Asia Cup begins on Tuesday.

It will be a test of fire for the bowlers as batsmen – prima donnas of the modern cricket – will look to mesmerise the audience with some stroke play at the cricket spectacle, which promises a high-octane action for the next 20 days.

The matches will be played across two venues – Dubai and Abu Dhabi - with the final slated to be held in Dubai. Abu Dhabi will host eight of the 17 matches. Afghanistan and Hong Kong will get the ball rolling in the opener in Abu Dhabi.

It will be interesting to see how the batters live up to the expectations of the fans, who enjoy watching their heroes battering the bowlers – cannon fodder of modern cricket.

The pitches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi help batsmen due to consistent bounce and pace but they are also a safe haven for the spinners. The average first innings score in T20 matches in Dubai is 139, which shows the stroke-play is challenging, especially as the match progresses.

Going by the stats, Abu Dhabi pitches are more or less similar to that of Dubai. 

The average first and second innings totals in Abu Dhabi is 136 and 123 respectively, which shows it offers equal opportunity for bowlers and batsmen.

The tournament, which began with a humble beginning with three teams – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - has grown into a biennial giant, swaying between 50-over and 20-over format.

A total of eight teams - India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, UAE Oman - will battle it out for the next 20 days to lay their hands on the glittering trophy on Sept.28.

The teams have been divided into two groups of four each. The top two teams in each group will advance to the Super 4 stage.

India and Pakistan placed in the same group alongside minnows Oman and UAE to keep them on course for a potential final while the other group features Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong.

The India and Pakistan match is the cornerstone of the tournament and will undoubtedly generate the most interest and revenue, owing to the political tension between the two countries.

Defending champions India are overwhelming favourites both because of their past record in the tournament and also their current form. India are current Asian champions, T20 world champions and sitting on the top of the standings in the format. India has won the title eight times, followed by Sri Lanka with six. Pakistan won the title twice with the last one coming in 2012.

India will boast of a perfect combination of powerful hitters like Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Suryakumar along with Test captain Shubman Gill.

India have a very strong line-up of spin bowling with Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav in their ranks. They have been boosted with the return of pacer spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who will be assisted by Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.

India are likely to play with four specialist bowlers -- two pacers and two spinners -- with Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel or Tilak likely to play as all-rounders.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will look to capitalise on their long batting line-up. New coach Mike Hesson has deployed the strategy of playing with eight batters and three specialist bowlers, relying on the all-rounders to bowl the remaining overs.

Their spinners like Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz have already underlined their presence with a superb bowling in the prelude to the cricket extravaganza as Afghanistan were bundled out for a paltry 66.

Pakistan batting looks fragile without Mohamamd Rizwan and Babar Azam. Sahibzada Farhan's highest score in the last five innings was 21. Salman Agha himself could score only one fifty in the tri-series.

Afghanistan are the serious contenders for the title. They have emerged as a force to reckon with from being perennial makeweights. They named a spin-heavy squad, which will be led by star spinner Rashid Khan.

Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman and Noor Ahmed along with Rashid make one of the most dangerous spin attacks of the world. Their batting is a little out of place with opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz not clicking in the last five innings while Ibrahim Zadran also not living up to the expectation.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka don’t look to mount any serious challenge but because of the unpredictable nature of the T20, they can be a surprise package.

It will be a great learning curve for the Associated Teams like UAE, Hong Kong and first timer Oman. They can take away wealth of experience from the continental showpiece.