Asia Cup 2023 is only days away as fans are set to witness six teams battling for the biggest continental cricket trophy from August 30. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are hosting the much-awaited tournament with Nepal making their debut.
India, the current Asia Cup champions (ODI), are drafted in Group A with Pakistan and Nepal while the Asia Cup 2022 winners (T20) Sri Lanka are in Group B with Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Once again, India and Pakistan will enter the tournament as favourites despite their recent struggles in major cricket tournaments.
Rohit Sharma-led side won the previous edition of the tournament in 2018 by beating Bangladesh in the last ball thriller in the final. Shikhar Dhawan claimed the top run-scorer award after scoring 342 runs in five innings while Rohit scored 317 runs. Star batter and regular captain Virat Kohli was surprisingly rested by the management.
Dhawan is unlikely to make India's squad for the Asia Cup 2023 having played no international cricket this year. But once again, Rohit will be a strong contender to compete for the top run-scorer award. Kohli is enjoying sensational form in 2023 and will be looking forward to scorching big scores in the tournament.
But both the star Indian batters face strong competition from the world no.1 ODI batter Babar Azam, Sri Lanka's in-form batter Dimuth Karunaratne, and Afghanistan's star youngster Ibrahim Zadran.
Five leading candidates for top run-scorer at Asia Cup 2023:
5. Ibrahim Zadran
The 21-year-old batter boasts 749 runs in 14 ODI innings at an average of 62.41 and is among very few cricketers with better ODI averages than the likes of Virat Kohli and Babar Azam. He was the third-highest leading run-scorer in the 2022 Asia Cup and scored 174 runs in just three ODI innings against Sri Lanka in June.
4. Dimuth Karunaratne
Sri Lanka's red-ball captain surprised everyone on his return to ODIs this year. He scored two fifties in three ODI innings against Afghanistan in June and then played a crucial role in Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup Qualifier 2023 with one hundred and three fifties. Karunaratne's form will be crucial for Sri Lanka's chances at the upcoming tournament.
3. Rohit Sharma
The Indian captain has an impressive track record in the tournament history and the player himself has a knack of scoring big knocks on big stages. He has scored 317 runs in just five innings in the previous edition of the tournament in 2018 and has scored overall 745 runs in 22 ODI matches so far. His recent struggles for consistency remain a big issue for the Indian camp but it is impossible to rule out him from this chart given his records in the tournament.
2. Virat Kohli
The former captain ended his century drought during the Asia Cup 2022 tournament and has been back to his regular best since then with eight hundreds, including six in international cricket. Kohli didn't get a chance to bat in the recent ODIs against West Indies but recorded a hundred in the Tests. Kohli has featured in just 10 Asia Cup matches so far but boosts impressive numbers with 613 runs at an average of 61.3 with a record three centuries and one fifty.
1. Babar Azam
Pakistani skipper continues to dominate 50-over cricket with the no.1 ranking in the ICC ODI batter's chart. Babar managed to score just 156 runs in five innings during the 2018 edition of the tournament with one fifty. But has shown tremendous consistency in ODI cricket with over 5000 runs in just 100 matches at an average of almost 60. Babar has scored nine 50-plus knocks from his 11 ODI innings in the last 12 months and will be favourite to win the top run-scorer award in the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup.
