Shahid Afridi Believes India Can Win Asia Cup without Virat Kohli

Former all-round cricketer of Pakistan, Shahid Afridi, believes that their neighbouring nation India can defend their Asia Cup title without the services of their regular skipper Virat Kohli.

Cricket news: After a long and exhausting tour of England, Kohli has been given a rest

Kohli, who was phenomenal in the recently concluded long tour of England, where he had scored a total of 593 runs in the 5-match Test series, has been given a rest due to the exhausting long tour.

In his absence his deputy Rohit Sharma will shoulder the responsibilities of the nation and presently has been performing well as India have defeated Hong Kong and Pakistan in consecutive days of the Asia Cup fixtures.

Kohli has performed extremely well with the bat in overseas conditions against South Africa and England, but his captaincy has come under the scanner especially after the 1-4 Test series loss against England.

While he is being rested, Kohli can prepare himself for the upcoming tour against West Indies and India’s final overseas tour against Australia.

While giving an interview to ABP News, Afridi said, “There is not much difference between the two sides. From the beginning, India has been a strong batting unit. Therefore, Virat Kohli’s absence will not make much of a difference.”

“Kohli’s absence could create a psychological impact on both sides. This would be beneficial for Pakistan team. However, the Indian team has some brilliant players on the field except Virat Kohli. There are going to be in hot conditions in Dubai. Thus, the team batting first will hold the advantage baton. Consequently, the toss will play an important role,” he added.

India has started their Asia Cup journey with a positive note, having defeated Hong Kong by 26 runs on Tuesday and then defeating arch-rivals Pakistan on Wednesday by 8 wickets.