The 2018 edition of Asia Cup tournament ended with Team India becoming champions for the seventh time, defeating Bangladesh in the finals on September 28, 2018.
While many players like Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammad Shahzad, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman and others shined with bat and ball; there were many players who also didn’t manage to sparkle the way they were expected to. Many big-name players fizzled out despite having the potential to do well.
Team COC looks at eleven such players and presents to you the COC Flop XI of the Asia Cup 2018.
The opening combination of this flop XI is Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman and Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis. Zaman made 56 runs in 5 innings for Pakistan. He had come off a bumper series against Australia and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, where he also scored the first ever double century in ODIs for Pakistan. But he failed miserably against the Indian and Afghanistan spinners.
Kusal Mendis was once again given chance to prove himself in the top order by Sri Lanka selectors and he responded by scoring two ducks in the two matches he played in Asia Cup 2018 against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Babar Azam scored 156 runs in 5 innings, but more was expected from him. Azam has a very good record in ODIs and much depended on him for Pakistan to do well in the tournament. Angelo Mathews came into the tournament as the Sri Lanka captain and played 2 matches, scoring 38 runs. The Lankan captain peeved the selectors with his slow running between the wickets and the tendency to run out his partners.
MS Dhoni came into the Asia Cup 2018 with a disappointing limited overs series against England and had a lot to prove. However, apart from an innings of 36, he did nothing of importance, despite being given chance to bat up the order. Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistani skipper, too disappointed with just 68 runs in 5 innings, as his team failed to make it into the finals and lost to arch-rivals India in both their clashes. His slow batting in the death overs cost his team some important runs.
Pakistan used the bizarre ploy of playing just one specialist spinner in their matches in Shadab Khan, who picked four wickets in the four games he played. It was a disappointing series for a talent like Shadab. Hassan Ali, the Pakistani pacer had shown the intent of picking all the 10 Indian wickets when Pakistan met India but failed to pick up a single wicket in two clashes.
Usman Khan was supposed to be a promising left-arm fast bowler for Pakistan in the tournament but unfortunately failed to pick a single wicket against India and Afghanistan after his 3/19 against HK. Mohammad Amir is a talent that has amazed despite his wrongdoings in cricket. But form has deserted him in 2018, as he failed to pick up a single wicket in the tournament. He was expected to bring the pace and fire like the Champions Trophy 2017 final, against India in the Asia Cup, but failed to dismiss a single batsman.
Akila Dananajaya played just one match in the tournament, as he missed the first one for the birth of his first child, and in the second match, he picked 2/39 but couldn’t stop SL from crashing out of the tournament.
COC Flop XI of the Asia Cup 2018:
Fakhar Zaman (PAK), Kusal Mendis (SL), Babar Azam (PAK), Angelo Mathews (SL), MS Dhoni (WK-IND), Sarfraz Ahmed (C- PAK), Shadab Khan (PAK), Hassan Ali (PAK), Usman Khan Shinwari (PAK), Mohammad Amir (PAK), Akila Dananjaya (SL)
