Former Indian all-rounder Madan Lal has opined on the side winning the upcoming six-team Asia Cup, starting on August 30. Team India are the most successful side in the Asia Cup, winning the title seven times so far, including back-to-back in 2016 and 2018 as well. However, they failed to qualify for the final last year. However, the tournament returns to the 50-over format this year preceding ahead of the ODI World Cup, which starts a fortnight after the Asia Cup as well.
Despite picking India to win the mega tournament, Madal Lal does not believe they are outright favourites to win the World Cup at home Speaking to Hindustan Times, he picked a few other teams as well.
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“I am sure that they will win the Asia Cup but in World Cup any six teams – Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa… are the 6 top teams. Everybody has a chance. We are playing at home so there is this advantage. But at the same time, it could turn into a disadvantage as well because of pressure. Thankfully, they all are experienced players and know how to handle pressure,” Madan Lal said.
However, Madan Lal added his concerns about the fitness levels of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer who are returning from injury as well. While wishing they had played a few games ahead of the high-level competition, his concerns end there as well.
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“My concern will be the fitness levels and nothing else. They are experienced, they have the exposure. Definitely, if they could have played a couple of games, it could have been better in terms of confidence. They could have felt being part of the game and it would have reassured them that they are injury-free,” Madan Lal concluded.
