Abhishek Nayar tips India as heavy favorites for Asia Cup, says its their tournament to lose

Former Indian batting coach Abhishek Nayar has tipped India as heavy favorites for the Asia Cup. Nayar reckons if India doesn’t defend their Asia Cup title, then something would not go right for them. 

India won their opening clash against the UAE by nine wickets and the Men in Blue were able to chase down the target of 58 runs in just 4.3 overs. Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Dube had starred with the ball, picking four and three wickets respectively.

Meanwhile, India has won 26 out of their last 29 T20Is and they have been a force to reckon with in the shortest format. India is playing with an aggressive approach, and they would look to go all the way in the continental tournament.

“I won’t call them contenders; they are coming after becoming champions. The kind of squad they have and the way they are playing in this format, this tournament is for them to lose. If they don’t win this tournament, there is something that’s gone wrong,” Abhishek Nayar said on Sony Sports.

“The squad strength we have and the way our spinners bowled in the last match, I will always believe that if you are bowling well, winning the championship becomes easy. So it’s India’s tournament to lose,” the former India coach added.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav decided to bowl first against the UAE and Nayar said the team could have looked to bat first. The former Mumbai batter said it would have given them a chance to bowl in difficult conditions.

“You were expecting India to win easily, but probably not this easily. There was a thought process about whether you could have bowled in tougher conditions, whether you could have batted first, just as an experiment, because you will be playing against Pakistan on the 14th,” he said in the same discussion.

“So, as a precursor, would you have wanted to understand the conditions? However, Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir had the thought process of playing to win and finishing the match as early as they could. So, a little too easy. A little challenge would have been good because I always believe preparation is only when it’s hard,” Nayar observed.

India will next take on arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, on Sunday.