Asia Cup 2018: 5 milestones that can be achieved by the Indian players

The much-hyped Asia Cup is all set to begin on the 15th of September in UAE at the famous Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Six teams will be taking part in this edition of the tournament- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They will be joined by a sixth team — the winner of the Asian Cricket Council qualifier event.

The 2018 Asia Cup will be held in UAE at two venues, Dubai International Stadium in Dubai and Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Besides, the Asia Cup 2018 will be held in a 50-over format.

Thus, before we head into the Asia Cup 2018, let us have a look at five milestones that are expected to be achieved by the Indian team in the upcoming tournament:

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#1 Yuzvendra Chahal approaching 50 ODI wickets

The right-arm leg-break prodigy has now become an integral part of India's limited-overs spin bowling department. With an ability to bowl unerring line and lengths along with a skiddy bowling action, Chahal has proved to be quite successful in the limited formats of the game.

Chahal had a decent ODI series against England. Thus, with minimal doubts, the young prodigy is expected to retain his place in the squad for the Asia Cup.

The leggie from Haryana is on the brink of a milestone in ODI cricket as he readies for the Asia Cup. He is just five wickets shy of 50 wickets in ODIs.

If the young leggies scalps these 5 wickets in the tournament, he could become one of the fastest Indians to claim 50 ODI wickets.

#2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar approaching 100 ODI wickets

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is unquestionably one of the best death bowlers in business at the moment. With an ability to swing the ball both ways, Kumar has become a nightmare for the batsmen all over the world.

Although Kumar's recent injury concerns have kept him away from cricket, he is expected to come back for the Asia Cup and will be hoping to lead the Indian pace attack in UAE this September.

Bhuvi is cornering a remarkable milestone in ODI cricket. He is just ten wickets shy from the golden mark of 100 ODI wickets. Ten more wickets and Kumar will become the 19th Indian to take 100 or more wickets in ODI cricket.

Given that India is expected to play at least 5 matches, scalping 10 wickets might not be out of the question.

#3 Kuldeep Yadav set to become second fastest India bowler to take 50 ODI wickets

Undoubtedly, Kuldeep Yadav is currently the best spin bowler in the shorter formats of the game. With some bright performances in limited overs format, Kuldeep Yadav has become one of the most important parts of the Indian setup in ODI cricket.

Undoubtedly, Kuldeep Yadav is here to stay and lead the spin department for the much anticipated Asia Cup 2018. And his recent performances in the ODI and T20I series against England are a proof of it.

The young leggie finished as the leading wicket-taker with 9 scalps in the recently concluded ODI series against England.

The young lad is all set to achieve a unique milestone in ODI cricket. Kuldeep is just two wickets short of 50 ODI wicket mark. Grabbing these two wickets, Kuldeep Yadav will become the second fastest Indian bowler to claim the milestone after Ajit Agarkar.

#4 Virat Kohli anticipating the 10,000-run mark

How can Virat Kohli not feature in a list when we talk about milestones? The current Indian captain has been in sublime form right from the start of 2018. Having raked up runs as if it is a simple task for him, Kohli has been completely on a different level as compared to his peers.

There have been speculations about Kohli being rested for the Asia Cup 2018. Unquestionably, Virat's workloads in the recent past have been soaring high, and it might take a toll on Virat Kohli's fitness. However, considering the severity of the tournament, India might not rest Virat if he is perfectly fit to play the tournament.

Nevertheless, Kohli is close to achieving yet another milestone in ODIs. He just needs 221 runs more to become the latest member of the 10,000-run club in ODIs.

Amassing these runs, Kohli will become the fastest ever player in the history of ODI cricket to surpass 10,000 runs. Moreover, he will become the second player after MS Dhoni to complete 10,000 runs in international cricket with an average of more than 50.

#5 MS Dhoni (9872 runs for India and 174 runs for Asia XI) set to reach 10,000 runs for India alone in ODI cricket

MS Dhoni has received a lot of criticism in the recent past due to his dogged style of constructing an inning.

But most of the criticisms have been largely illogical as one needs to look upon the situations he's come out to bat in. Dhoni still weaves to be an important part of the Indian team setup, especially in the ODIs where his tactical mind provides a lot of inputs to the team.

Thus, Dhoni is set to be the incumbent wicket-keeper batsman for the Indian team at the much prophesied Asia Cup 2018. Recently having completed 10,000 ODI runs in international cricket, Dhoni is all set to achieve another milestone in ODI cricket.

MS Dhoni needs 128 more runs to complete 10,000 ODI runs for India. Well, you might be thinking that how can this be the case. So, here is the fact. Dhoni has scored 10,046 runs in ODI cricket out of which 174 runs have come for Asia XI in a three-match series against Africa XI in 2007 which Asia XI won 3-0.

Thus, come the Asia Cup 2018, Dhoni will be needing 128 more runs to achieve the 10,000 run mark for India.