Here is the best combined XI of Asia Cup 2022

Now that the Asia Cup 2022 has concluded and has thrown up some unexpected results and an unexpected winner, it’s time to form the best-combined XI of Asia Cup 2022. Some big names have topped the list in terms of the total no. of runs scored and total no. of wickets taken, but in this XI, we will be including players who made a very high impact for their respective teams in their designated roles.

Here is the best-combined XI for Asia Cup 2022:

Openers (Kusal Mendis, Rahmanullah Gurbaz)

Kusal Mendis might have got out on duck in the final of the Asia Cup, but his contribution with the bat in the super 4 round was the main reason why Sri Lanka qualified to the final in the first place. Mendis was not the highest run-scorer in the tournament, but he played three match-winning innings in three back-to-back games against Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and India and finished the tournament with a strike rate of over 150.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was another batsman who struck the ball at the rate of over 150 per 100 balls and played two very high-impact knocks against the eventual champions Sri Lanka in the group round and then the super 4 round. Gurbaz’s 84 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on a low and slow surface was one of the knocks of the tournament.

Middle Order (Virat Kohli, Mohammad Nawaz, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka)

Virat Kohli was one of the most consistent batsmen in the tournament and ended up as the second highest run scorer with 276 runs, but those runs came at a high strike rate of 147, as compared to the leading run scorer Mohammad Rizwan who scored 281 runs in the Asia Cup at a strike rate of only 117.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa didn’t just win Sri Lanka the final with a 45-ball 71, he played match-winning finishing cameos against Afghanistan and India before that to guide Sri Lanka to the final.

Mohammad Nawaz bowled economically right through the tournament, but he also chipped in with the bat whenever Pakistan gave him the opportunity, while Dasun Shanaka was the best finisher of the tournament batting at no. 6 for Sri Lanka and contributing regularly under pressure situations.

Mohammad Nawaz has taken 8 wickets and has an economy-rate at the Asia Cup of 5.89, yet he only bowled 1 over today #AsiaCup2022Final #SLvsPAK

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) September 11, 2022

Spinners (Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana)

Maheesh Theekshana bowled in the powerplay and in the death overs for Sri Lanka, something which a fast bowler does for the other teams generally, but despite being a spinner and bowling during the toughest phases of the innings, Theekshana ended up with an economy rate of just 6.75 and also took 6 wickets.

Wanindu Hasaranga was the player of the tournament, not just for his 9 wickets in 6 games, but also for his match-winning cameos of 36 off 21 in the final and 16 off 9 against Afghanistan in the super 4.

Fast bowlers (Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar)

While Naseem Shah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar swung the ball the most in the tournament and Bhuvi was also the leading wicket-taker with 11 wickets in 5 games, Haris Rauf was probably the fastest bowler in the tournament. With regular speeds of 145 kph and beyond that, Rauf perfectly played the role of a middle order enforcer for Pakistan and got them breakthroughs at crucial junctures of the games.