Key Points

Fans and former cricketers have classified the T20 World Champions, India, as the clear favourites to blaze their way through the final and lift the title. With the Asia Cup serving as the ideal platform for fine-tuning the preparations before the next year's World Cup, Natarajan sees India cruising to the title.

"The current Indian Cricket Team for the Asia Cup is young and energetic. I am sure they will win the Asia Cup this year and lift the title," Natarajan said while speaking to reporters.

Before the beginning of the tournament, former flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag rooted for India to bask in glory and said in a video posted by the Sony Sports Network on social media, "We are world champions. We just won the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I am sure that we are the best team in the Asia Cup, and hopefully we will win the Asia Cup."

India kicked off its campaign at the Asia Cup on Wednesday with a landslide 9-wicket victory over the UAE. The spin magic, especially from left-armer Kuldeep Yadav, worked wonders as the UAE were left bamboozled and packed their bags on 57, the second-lowest total of the tournament's history. In reply, India gunned down the target in a mere 4.3 overs to begin its journey with flying colours.

India's next opponent will be their arch-rival, Pakistan, en route to Super 4. Pakistan's misfiring batting unit took the spotlight against Oman, with opener Saim Ayub and captain Salman Ali Agha returning to the dugout within the blink of an eye with a golden duck across their name. A couple of handy performances towards the end spurred Pakistan to limp its way to 160/7.

Throughout the first innings, white-ball head coach Mike Hesson bore a frown while taking notes of the performances from his batters. The spin troika of Mohammad Nazaz, Sufyan Moqim and Abrar Ahmed came to their rescue as they embarked on their journey with a daunting 93-run victory.

India squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Pakistan squad for Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (C), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.

- ANI