Asia Cup 2018: 5 youngsters to watch out in the tournament

The Asia Cup 2018 tournament starts with Sri Lanka taking on Bangladesh in the opening match.

The Asia Cup 2018 will be the 14^th edition of the premier tournament of Asia. The tournament has been a platform for the Asian teams to try out untested players and youngsters on the international platform.

Right from the first tournament in 1984, when a relatively unknown Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Surinder Khanna won the player of the series award, to Ajantha Mendis wrecking havoc on Indian batsmen in the final of the 2008 Asia cup; the tournament has been a way to bring youngsters in limelight.

This year too many of the participating teams have chosen to field in youngsters in their team and have given them a chance to shine on such a big platform.

Keeping the theme in mind, we present to you five such youngsters to watch out in the Asia Cup 2018

MUJEEB-UR-RAHMAN (AFG)

The first player to be born in the 21st century to play international cricket, 17-year-old Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman is also the youngest bowler in ODIs to take a five-wicket haul. He recently played in Afghanistan’s debut Test against India at Bengaluru.

Zadran is a mystery spinner and was picked up by the Kings XI Punjab for INR 4 crore for IPL 2018, and has said that he learned bowling from watching YouTube videos. Mujeeb also topped the list of highest wicket-taker in the ICC World Cup qualifiers along with Rashid Khan and Safyaan Sharif with 17 wickets, as Afghanistan won the tournament and qualified for the 2019 ICC World Cup.

Mujeeb also played in Afghanistan’s inaugural Test against India and became the first player born in the 21st century to play Test cricket and also became the youngest player to feature in their country's inaugural Test match (17 years and 78 days).

Mujeeb will definitely like the wickets in UAE. He bowls with the new ball and has picked wickets with both new and old balls and will give some big support to Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.

MOMINUL HAQUE (BAN)
26-year-old Mominul Haque has always been touted as one of the most naturally gifted Bangladeshi batsmen in recent times. The only Bangladeshi batsman to score hundreds in each innings of a Test, Mominul’s ODI career has been less flashy than his Test career. He has scored just 543 runs in 26 ODIs with three fifties.

Mominul has been a prolific scorer in Tests however with 2170 runs in 29 Tests with 6 hundreds. The Bangladeshi selectors have shown confidence in Mominul as they see him a player with a long future for the team. He was one of the 10 players to be to be awarded a central contract by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) ahead of the 2018 season.

This means that Bangladesh selectors want him to perform in every format there is and a player of his caliber and technique might come good in a tournament like the Asia Cup, given that it will be played in UAE and on batting friendly pitches.

DHANANJAYA DE SILVA (SL)

Sri Lankan middle-order batsman Dhananjaya de Silva is one of the best and rising stars from the emerald islands. He has played 17 Tests and 20 ODIs scoring 1186 and 459 runs respectively. He has four Test hundreds and is yet to score a hundred in ODIs.

Hailing from Colombo, Dhananjaya is a technically correct top-order batsman who has not been able to unleash his full potential in the limited overs game correctly when it comes dominating the bowlers. His strike rate of 80.80 in ODIs has given an indication to the SL selectors that he needs work on his game in the ODI format and hence is giving him a longer run in the team.

Now it will be up to De Silva to grab that chances and stake a claim in the Sri Lankan team with his calming nature of play amongst the team filled with stroke players. This Asia Cup 2018 may finally be the chance for Dhananjaya to come good on his promise and become the backbone of the Lankan team.

IMAM-UL-HAQ (PAK)
Imam-ul-Haq has been a revelation for Pakistan scoring four centuries in his first 9 ODI matches, scoring 544 runs at an average of 88.31. He is yet to replicate that performance in Test cricket. He gets his cricketing acumen from his uncle, former Pakistani captain and one of the greatest batsmen of his time, Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Left-handed Imam scored a century in his ODI debut and as an opener, brings a calming yet stylish approach to his game for his team. Though he is not a big hitter of the ball, his expertise at finding the gaps in the fields and getting boundaries makes him unique and a player to watch out for in the upcoming Asia Cup 2018.

KL RAHUL (IND)
The first Indian batsman to score hundred on ODI debut, KL Rahul has been since as a successor to his namesake in Tests, Rahul Dravid. The opener has been prolific in scoring runs in all the three formats, but his ODI career has stagnated a bit.

He has 1811 runs in 29 Tests with 5 centuries, 696 runs in 19 T20Is with two centuries, but in 12 ODIs, he only has 257 runs which include a solitary century and a fifty. With the presence of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order and Virat Kohli at no.3, Rahul has been given the chance to make a mark at the vacant no.4 position. But in the five-match series against Sri Lanka, he failed to capitalize on the opportunity and was dumped.

But with Virat being rested for the Asia Cup 2018, Rahul has a chance to bat in the top three and possibly score big runs with a majority of the overs to play. The Indian selectors will have lots of hopes from KL Rahul and he needs to perform in order to stake a claim for the 2019 World Cup spot in the Indian team.