India’s Best Playing XI for Asia Cup 2022, According to Data Analysis

With the Asia Cup right around the corner, everyone is guessing about how India will be lining up their playing XI. 

To ease out this task, we will be providing you with data backed answers as to what will be India’s best playing X1 for the Asia Cup 2022. 

India’s squad for Asia Cup traveling to UAE consists of 15 players:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan

Note:

• Due to injuries, Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection. At the NCA in Bengaluru, they are presently undergoing rehabilitation.
  
• As backups, three players have been named: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, and Deepak Chahar.

India’s Best 11 for Asia Cup

Position 1,2 &3 – Rohit, Rahul & Kohli

Now, let’s take a closer look at the Indian players’ performances and assess each player’s strengths and best spots.

As you can see, the chart below shows the total number of balls played by batsmen from every country.

It is clear from the image above that the top two spots for India are secured by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Now let us see how Indian batsmen fare when it comes to most balls played between wickets. 

Most Balls played between wickets(Indian Batsmen)

While Ishan and Rohit Sharma have a higher dot ball percentage as compared to other players, their overall past record indicates that they are explosive openers. This is indicative by the fact that they have better boundary percentage as they are dealing with fours and sixes.

Higher Strike Rate in the powerplay

Also, in the T20 games, Rahul and Rohit both had good strike rates. 

By considering all the graphs above, it will be better to conclude that both these players make excellent options for opening positions. On the other hand, if Virat Kohli does well in his position(number 3), he will be more helpful to the squad.

Final Top 3:

1. Rohit Sharma

2. KL Rahul

3. Virat Kohli

Position 4: Surya Kumar Yadav / Deepak Hooda

With a strike rate of 135 or more against spinners, Suriya Kumar Yadav performs seemingly well as compared to other counterparts. It goes without saying that he will be ideal for the middle-order spots. 

Deepak Hooda, on the other hand, scored 104 runs against Ireland. His consistency is excellent. He provides the team with crucial flexibility. He can occupy any position from 1 to 7 and also bowls off-spin.

Positon 5: Rishabh Pant (Wk)/ Dinesh Karthik (Wk)

Dinesh Karthik and Rishab Pant will be in a fierce competition for the spot of the wicket-keeper batsman in the team. It is quite interesting to see how well both these players performed in the previous T20 and IPL games. Selectors will have a lot of difficulties in selecting the finest option among them.

Position 6,7 & 8 – Pandya, Jadeja & Chahal

Here is how Indian batsmen have fared in the final overs of T20I’s

Players’ performances in the death overs

Below are some graphs of India’s power striker batsmen: Pandya, Karthik, Jadeja, Pant, Iyer & Axar patel. 

Based on the above 2 graphs, it is clear that Pandya and Jadeja will be the best contenders for the position of number 6 & 7. 

As a result of his impressive performances in both IPL and T20 games, Bishnoi finally deserves a place in the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2022. We have four spinners in the squad, so he must perform well whenever he has the chance. 

With Chahal and Jadeja certainly filling two spots, there will be stiff competition between Bishnoi and Ashwin for a place in the team.

Lower Middle Order, Spin & Pace options:

6. Hardik Pandya

7. R Jadeja

8. Chahal

Position 9, 10 & 11 – Ashwin, D Chahar & B Kumar

Best Bowling Options-Power Play :

As it is already known, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be the ideal option for effective power play bowling. He has a good economy rate compared to other bowlers, as shown by the scatter plot below.

Best Bowling Options – Death Overs :

Bumrah, Pandya, and Deepak Chahar would be the best choices, according to our bar graph. Since Bumrah is injured and unable to perform, Avesh Khan or Arshdeep Singh can take accountability. Considering the efforts in the recently finished series against the West Indies, Arshdeep Singh’s inclusion was unavoidable.

Position 9, 10 & 11:

9. Ashwin

10. D Chahar

11. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Conclusion

In conclusion, we identified the top players for the forthcoming Asia Cup 2022 after closely examining player performance.

India’s Best XI for Asia Cup

1. Rohit Sharma ©

2. KL Rahul (VC)

3. Virat Kohli 

4. Surya Kumar Yadav

5. Dinesh Karthik (wk)

6. Hardik Pandya

7. Ravindra Jadeja

8. Chahal 

9. Ashwin

10. D Chahar

11. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Thanks to our analysis, we believe this will be the strongest playing XI for team India in the Asia Cup. We have full faith in this team to do well, and get India its 8th Asia Cup trophy.