The Asian dress rehearsal before the ICC World T20

The Underdogs – Sri Lanka

The defending Asia Cup winners Sri Lanka will start this year’s tournament as the underdogs. Since the World T20 triumph on the same venue two years ago, Sri Lanka’s performances have been dwindling in every format of the game including the T20Is due to the retirements of legends and various other reasons like, not having permanent coaches, remodeled bowling actions and doping bans. For the last 24 months after the World Cup victory, Sri Lanka have lost seven Twenty-20 games out of ten. In the current year of 2016, they have won only one game, that too on a green deck at Pune.

Recently, Sri Lanka’s top-order has been failing constantly and their spin-attack lacks the wicket-taking ability or run stopping solutions. The return of Rangana Herath will boost the spin attack but the likes of Sachithra Senanayake and Jefferey Vandersay will need to maximize the conditions rather efficiently.

After returning from a long injury layoff, Lasith Malinga will need to team up with the exciting Dushmantha Chameera and experienced Nuwan Kulasekara to do the bulk of bowling while TM Dilshan and Angelo Mathews has been bestowed the responsibility of scoring runs at every given opportunity.

The ‘X’ factor players or the all-rounders, Milinda Siriwardana, Thisara Perera and Dasun Shanaka will have a huge part to play in the success of Sri Lanka while either Dinesh Chandimal or Chamara Kapugedara will need to bat responsibly alongside the new-comers Niroshan Dickwella and Shehan Jayasuriya to get Lankans off to a flier.

Squad – Lasith Malinga (Captain), Angelo Mathews (Vice-Captain), Dinesh Chandimal, TM Dilshan, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Thisara Perera, Chamara Kapugedara, Milinda Siriwardana, Shehan Jayasooriya, Dasun Shanaka, Dushmantha Chameera, Jefferey Vandersay, Niroshan Dickwella.

The Favourites – India

Generally, India would face the daunting task overcoming Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Asia Cup but presently, the Indian side led by MS Dhoni are undoubtedly the favourites to lift the title on March 6. With T20 series’ win over Australia in Australia and then at home over Sri Lanka, India have hit the peak of their form and they will have one eye set upon the World T20 title on familiar territory.

The explosive batting of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan will be handy alongside the stability of Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane. They also have the luxury of few big-hitters for the final overs in Dhoni and young Hardik Pandya. The spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have become a deadly pair to any nation while the experience of Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh will also strengthen their title hopes.

Squad – MS Dhoni (Captain), Virat Kohli (Vice-Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah.

The Unpredictable – Pakistan

Pakistan are known as the most unpredictable team going around the world as they can switch from stellar performance to mediocre results within minutes. The India vs Pakistan face off on February 27^th will certainly be a game to watch out for.

Contrary to many of their squads in the past, the current lot is a young one with much to prove. Although amongst their ranks are also experienced members in Captain – Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Mohammed Hafeez. The left-arm pace trio of Mohommad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Mohommad Irfan will be the biggest advantage Pakistan possess this season and they will need to deliver the goods right away. The Pakistanis were outplayed against New Zealand and England but they will be confident in putting up a solid show ahead of the all-important World T20.

Squad – Shahid Afridi (Captain), Mohommad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Anwar Ali, Mohommad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Khurram Manzoor, Babar Azam, Mohommad Irfan, Mohommad Nawaz, Rumman Raees, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Ifthikar Ahmed

The High Hopes of the Hosts’ – Bangladesh

Bangladesh will have an added advantage when it comes to performing well in this tournament as they know the conditions like the back of their hands. But knowing the conditions will not be enough to reach the final of the Asia Cup, they will have to play their best cricket in order to out-class powerhouses like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Shakib-Al-Hasan, Musfiqur Rahim and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza are the most senior men in the Bangla side which have been performing exceptionally well in the last 18 months at home but in ODI cricket. Youngsters like, Mustafizur Rehman, Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rehman will have to step up to the occasion in order to yield positive results for Bangladesh in Asia Cup 2016.

Squad – Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Abu Hider, Nurul Hasan.

The unexpected – United Arab Emirates

After winning the qualifying round beating the far-more superior, Afghanistan on their way to the main draw, UAE have announced themselves in the Asian circuit. Their recent form suggests that they are one of the better sides among international cricket’s minor nations.

Much will be expected out of the skipper Amjad Javed, in-form Mohommad Shahzad and Mohommad Naveed. Shahzad made 111 runs in the three qualifying games while Naveed captured 7 wickets to help them seal a place in the top-competition. Batsman Shaiman Anvar and off-spinner Rohan Mustafa have not yet performed up to their full potential and they will need to be at their best against the South-Asian cricket giants.

Squad – Amjad Javed (Captain), Ahmed Raza, Mohommad Shahzad, Mohommad Naveed, Swapnil Patil, Farhan Ahmed, Qadeer Ahmed, Muhammed Kaleem, Fahad Tariq, Muhammed Usman, Rohan Mustafa, Saqlain Haider, Shaiman Anwar, Usman Mushtaq, Zaheer Maqsood.