An in-form Indian outfit will start as favourites in the Asia Cup to be hosted by Pakistan. The six nation tournament is set to commence from 24th June 2008 and shall consist of three of the top cricket playing nations in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and will be flanked by Bangladesh, Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India lost by a very thin margin to an unpredictable Shoaib Malik led Pakistan in the recently concluded tri-series in Bangladesh.  However, India armed with the most balanced team in the tournament, is expected to easily cruise past minnows such as Hong Kong apart from stronger teams in Pakistan and Sri Lanka to clinch the coveted trophy.

The youth policy has worked wonders for team India in the shorter formats of the game, what with the team winning some of the major tournaments in the past year, the T20 World Championship and the Tri-series in Australia to name a few. The loss in the tri-series hasn’t seemed to hamper the spirits of the well-oiled Indian outfit who have gone from strength to strength in their preparations for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.  The young generation of Indian cricket  led by the likes of Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar and Dhoni himself have ushered in a new era in Indian cricket, which many experts feel will be a golden one. With the seniors, also waiting in the wings, the youngsters will always be under some pressure to keep performing consistently.  

Meanwhile, Bangladesh, also a young team would be looking forward to burying their disappointments of the past year or so in International cricket, wherein they haven’t won anything significant. The departure of their former coach Dav Whatmore definitely seems to have affected the Mohammed Ashraful led side, which has struggled to compete against the top teams. At a pre-tournament press conference, Ashraful said, "We aim to win against UAE and better our Asia Cup records". "If we don't win, we won't be in the second round but I am sure we will make it." Sri Lanka on the other hand, will go in the tournament as the second favourites. Strengthened by the return of the in-form Sanath Jayasuriya, the Lankan lions will look to tame their Asian neighbours. Sri Lanka will be quietly confident with the fact that they are the current champions of Asia Cup and would look to retain the title.

The most erratic cricket team in the world, Pakistan would also be as confident as India and Sri Lanka are. Psychologically, Pakistan will be on a high after their title clinching victory over their cross border rivals India in the Kitply Cup tri-series, although they will be sorely missing the services of their dynamic wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal, who has been dropped from the team. Apparently, the team think tank feels Akmal needs to work on his wicket keeping skills. Though, some other sources believe that the right-handed batsman was dropped due to his unsporting behaviour in the Kitply Cup, after he claimed a catch, which was actually dropped. It will be interesting to see if his replacement Sarfaraz Ahmed can match Akmal’s batting skills.