India eye top spot in Group A as Hong Kong stand in their way

After clinching a thriller in the opener against the formidable Pakistan, Team India will be eyeing to secure their qualification to the Super 4 stages of the ongoing Asia Cup by clinching a win over minnows Hong Kong. The last time these two teams met, Hong Kong was on the cusp of history, thanks to a staggering opening partnership of 174 runs.

However, times have changed, Team India has changed and most importantly Hong Kong has been decent in their run-up to Asia Cup but talking about scares, it is highly unlikely that they are going to pull an upset despite their coach Trent Johnson’s earlier experience in taming giants.

Team India may commit to a few experiments where they would be hoping to check their bench strength against Hong Kong. With Rishabh Pant not being a part of the opener, the battle against the Red Army may witness a quick shuffle where the southpaw may be incorporated to have a quick glance at the possible shifts in the pecking order. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi may also be taken into consideration to keep a backup for Chahal in place, given the length of the tournament and the high number of contests that Team India will be a part of. 

The Men in Blue will have a few things to sort out against Hong Kong with KL Rahul failing to hit his stride being the primary concern. Rohit Sharma wasn’t in his prime either and given the opponents and the surfaces to come, it would be crucial for the Team India captain to return to form. Hong Kong, on the contrary, will be pinning their hopes on their captain Nizakhat Khan who has been in phenomenal form and will be desperate to replicate his success in the upcoming contest which is a massive opportunity for his contingent to showcase their cricketing flair.

Venue Watch:

The Dubai surface has acted very differently in almost all the contests so far and could continue to be a bugbear for the batters. In the last contest between India and Pakistan, the surface produced movement till the dying embers, making life a living hell for the batters. There was also a decent amount of bounce and carry for the fast bowlers and despite the toss playing a crucial factor, considering the dicey ilk of the tracks, no matter how good a batter is, he will have to keep his guards high.

Team News:

Both the teams have full strength at their disposal and will be heading to this encounter with varying objectives on their mind. India may likely resort to a handful of experiments while Hong Kong will be desperate to orchestrate an upset like never before.

Battles to watch out for:

Virat Kohli vs Ehsan Khan: Virat seemed in good touch against Pakistan despite an early scare. He would be hoping to extend his start to a decent knock wherein Ehsan Khan has been producing some fine spin over the last few games which can pose a few questions for Virat, especially given his wary approach in recent times.

Suryakumar Yadav vs Yasim Murtaza: Suryakumar Yadav couldn’t unfold himself at his magnificent against Pakistan after he succumbed to the leapfrogging pressure that needed a few strokes from his bat. However, Yadav has been a terrific addition to the Indian side, especially in the shortest format of the contest. This can be a crucial game for the hard-hitting middle-order batter. Yasim Murtaza has been a decent off-spinner and can make imperative inroads under the pump. Given Surya’s proclivity of taking spinners head-on, this can be a decent match-up.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Babar Hayat: Bhuvi has been riding on some imperious form and was also the tormentor-in-chief of Pakistan with some nasty drift. He would be hoping to continue his rich vein of affairs while Babar Hayat is the leading moniker for Hong Kong when it comes to batting. He is still to showcase his class on a regular basis against the mighty Indian bowlers. Yet, he can be a thorn in India’s flesh when the two collide.

Squads:

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

Match Details:

India vs Hong Kong

Dubai International Stadium

31st August 2022

7:30 PM