After an impressive win over Pakistan, one would think that Team India will remain unchanged for Asia Cup 2022 clash against Hong Kong on Wednesday, but that was not the case as skipper Rohit Sharma and team management dropped star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who bagged ‘Man of the Match’ award in India’s opening game of the tournament.
Pandya was instrumental in India’s thrilling five-wicket win over Pakistan, with his spell of 3-25 in four overs and 33 not out off 17 balls with the bat helped the side chase down 148 with two balls remaining.
Notably, Pandya was replaced by the wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant as Team India made only one change in the playing XI.
Speaking at the toss, Rohit said that Hardik has been rested for the clash against Hong Kong keeping in mind how important the all-rounder is, especially on fitness terms, for India
“Looks like an even covering of grass and we need to bat well to get to a good score. We just want to continue to do what we are doing as a team. We don’t want to look at the opposition and play good and hard cricket. For us, it’s about coming out and doing everything right. We need to do our basics right, which is what got us a victory against Pakistan. One change: Hardik is rested considering how important he is for us, Pant comes in.” said Rohit.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong captain Nizakat Khan won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the Asia Cup Group A match at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday.
After winning the toss, Nizakat said his playing eleven is unchanged from their win over the UAE in their final qualifier match at Al-Amerat, Oman, which saw them book their spot in the Asia Cup Group A stage.
“In Oman, we chased down well and that is what we are looking to do. The last time we played India, it was a good game and we know we did some mistakes and want to make sure we capitalize on that by doing better today.”
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, and Avesh Khan
Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (captain), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Scott McKechnie (wicketkeeper), Aizaz Khan, Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Ghazanfar and Ayush Shukla
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