Asia Cup 2022: India stars seek form against minnows Hong Kong

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, key India players, are seeking form and a match against Hong Kong could be an ideal opportunity for the two to get amongst runs. The two teams lock horns at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. 

Hong Kong have not played a competitive game in 850 days. Their last ODI game was against India in the 2018 Asia Cup. Anshuman Rath and co then came close to beating the Men in Blue, who ultimately emerged victorious by 26 runs. 

Also read: When Hong Kong nearly beat India in Asia Cup 2018

India look like a much-better side four years later. They come off a five-wicket win against Pakistan. The likes of Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are in a purple patch. However, the focus still lies on the top-order. Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul need to establish their authority. 

Rahul, whose first T20I in 2022 was against Pakistan the other night, would want to come out all guns blazing and may take this opportunity to try an alternate batting approach at the onset, compared to what has been his style at the IPL.

Also read: Will Pakistan bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi be back for T20 World Cup 2022

In T20Is, teams are going for impact performance and often a 20 ball 45 is of greater value than a 90 not out of 65 balls.

Quality of an innings and its significance in the larger context of the game is more important at this stage as India get ready for the T2O World Cup to be hosted by Australia from October 16 to November 13.

Skipper Rohit has made it clear that experimentation will continue and hence one shouldn’t be surprised if there is another batting order that could be tried out on Wednesday.

Also read: Asia Cup 2022: 5 reasons why Pakistan lost to India in game 1

For Virat Kohli, the Hong Kong match will be all about another quality hitting time in the middle against an attack that is sure to feel intimidated by his sheer presence in the middle.

Even Rohit, after a subdued game against Pakistan, would like to deposit a few into the stands.

Teams (from): India: 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.

Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (c), Kinchit Shah, Aftab Hussain, Aizaz Khan, Ateeq Iqbal, Babar Hayat, Dhananjay Rao, Ehsan Khan, Haroon Arshad, Scott McKechnie, Ghazanfar Mohammad, Mohammad Waheed, Ayush Shukla, Ahan Trivedi, Wajid Shah, Yasim Murtaza, Zeeshan Ali.

Match start at 7:30 pm IST.