India facing Hong Kong in an Asia Cup Group A contest might seem a dull affair, but only to those who have started watching cricket very recently.
Those who have been following the Men in Blue for a long wouldn’t have forgotten the scars that Hong Kong gave India in the 2018 edition of the tournament! Hong Kong had come close (26 runs) to the target set by India in the ODI format tournament back then. With this year’s edition being played in the T20 format, the match can only be expected to be more exciting.
It is a big day for Hong Kong as they face the mighty India for only the third time in 14 years and for the first time in a T20I encounter. The South Asian side were brilliant as they overcame the likes of UAE in the tournament qualifiers. However, this will be an acid test for them being slotted with the heavyweights India and Pakistan.
Their captain Nizakhat Khan has been an influential figure in the team’s success and upward growth in recent times. Their spinners have also been a strong force and they were key during the qualifiers.
Read: I am a big fan of Virat Kohli, we want him to come back in form, says Hong Kong captain Nizakat Khan
Hong Kong’s batting line-up, besides the skipper who has been in sublime form, will also want to step up to the occasion and prove their worth.
India lost multiple wickets to spin against Pakistan, and if Hong Kong spinners can come close to Mohammed Nawaz’s performance, they can surely cause a stir.
KL Rahul and Virat Kohli will be focal points with their comeback the biggest challenge for Team India to solve. While Kohli did show signs of his imperious self, Rahul was out for a golden duck in the first over.
The middle order has looked more settled in recent times, but removal of Rishabh Pant – which is expected to continue against Hong Kong as well – will keep the eyebrows raised.
Both the teams are expected to remain unchanged unless some tactical moves are made, which will only be known at the toss.
Probable XI
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (c), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie (wk), Zeeshan Ali, Ehsan Khan, Haroon Arshad, Ayush Shukla, Mohammad Ghazanfar.
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