My predicted winner is...: Shane Watson makes BOLD prediction about Asia Cup 2022 winner

File image (Source: Twitter)

With the 2022 Asia Cup fast approaching, Shane Watson has made some big calls in the latest episode of The ICC Review, including making his pick for the overall winner, declaring why Virat Kohli is primed to return to form and pondering whether Pakistan can get one over India again. The T20I tournament is set to begin on 27 August in the UAE, and there’s plenty of intrigue surrounding it with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia just around the corner as well.

#TeamIndia train, our cameras go click-click _ _#AsiaCup2022 | #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/WLGjcSFv4N

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 26, 2022

Who will win the Asia Cup 2022?

There are many strong contenders – India and Pakistan favoured most among them – but Watson picked India to win the tournament. India have won 19 of their 24 T20Is since the end of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup last year and have thrived with a new approach under captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid. 

Watson makes predictions about Asia Cup 2022

"My predicted winner is India," Watson told Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review. “They’re so strong and depending on what the conditions are, they adapt easily to conditions."

When quizzed on the biggest threat to India’s success, Watson was quick to pick arch-rivals Pakistan and said the winner of the India-Pakistan clash – on 28 August – would go on to win the tournament.

India's Squad

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

Standby: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.

Pakistan's Squad

Babar Azam (C), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir.

Checkout the schedule for Asia Cup 2022 below

Group A:

India v Pakistan: 28 August, Dubai

India v Qualifier: 31 August, Duabi

Pakistan v Qulaifier: 2 September, Sharjah

Group B:

Sri Lanka v Afghanistan: 27 August, Dubai

Bangladesh v Afghanistan, 30 August, Sharjah

Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, 1 September, Dubai

Super 4:

B1 v B2: 3 September, Sharjah

A1 v A2: 4 September, Dubai

A1 v B1: 6 September, Dubai

A2 v B2: 7 September, Dubai

A1 v B2: 8 September, Dubai

B1 v A2: 9 September, Dubai

Final: 11 September, Dubai

Asia Cup Live Streaming Details 

In India

Star Sports Network is the official broadcaster of the tournament in India. Disney+ Hotstar will present the live streaming.

In Pakistan

PTV and Ten Sports are the official broadcasters of the tournament in Pakistan.

In Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, Gazi TV will telecast all the matches of the tournament.

In Afghanistan

Ariana TV will present the live streaming of the tournament in Afghanistan.

In Australia 

Fox Sports will present the live action of the tournament in Australia.

In New Zealand

Sky Sports will present the live action of the tournament in New Zealand.

In South Africa

In South Africa, the SuperSport network will present the live-action of the tournament.

In the USA

Willow TV will present the live action of the tournament in the USA.

In the UK

In the UK, Sky Sports will present the live streaming of the tournament.

In the Middle East

In Middle Eastern regions like UAE, OSN Sports Cricket will present the live telecast of the matches.