Asia Cup 2018: Sanjay Manjrekar names the most likely winner of the event

Though his own country has won the tournament a record six times and is also the defending champion, former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar backs Pakistan as the favourites to lift the title. Pakistan started their Asia Cup campaign with a bang on Sunday, routing Hong Kong by 8 wickets. India will play the qualifiers on Tuesday and will lock horns with their arch-rivals on Wednesday.

Manjrekar though considers India as one of the main contenders to win the trophy but the fact that Pakistan play in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regularly has made him tilt more towards the Men in Green. Pakistan have the UAE as their virtual home ground since international cricket has remained suspended on their own soil owing to security issues. India, on the other hand, haven’t played in the middle-eastern country since 2006.

‘Home advantage for Pakistan’

“I think Pakistan start as favourites more than India because they have been playing in those conditions (in the UAE) for a while now and it’s a team which is on the surge. India, of course, are resting Virat (Kohli), which takes a lot of strength away from the team,” the 53-year-old former cricketer who played 74 ODIs and now chips in as a cricket commentator and analyst, was quoted as saying in reports as cited by NDTV Sports.

“India are obviously one of the contenders, but when you look at favouritism, (question arises) which team can be rated as the strongest. It’s Pakistan because of where it (the tournament) is being played,” he said.

The former batsman, however, said that the presence of the spin duo Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has made the Indian squad picked for the tournament more balanced. India will be led by dashing opener Rohit Sharma in the absence of Virat Kohli who has been rested after a demanding tour of England.

“India is a very good 50 overs outfit. India in the Test matches struggled a bit overseas, but if you look at their 50-over record, it’s very good in all conditions.”

India are currently ranked second in the International Cricket Council’s ODI rankings with 5,819 points, three places better than Pakistan who have 3,844 points. However, in their last encounter which happened in the final of the Champions Trophy in June 2017, Pakistan had thrashed India by 180 runs to win the title.

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