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Match Details:
Tournament: Asia Cup, 2022.
Date: August 31, 2022
Format: T20I
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE.
Time: 14:00
IND VS HKG TEAM PREVIEWS
INDIA
India is the defending champion of the T20 Asia Cup competition. They will take on the challenge of Hong Kong in the 4th game of Asia Cup 2022 on 31st August 2022. It may be strange to some people, but India and Hong Kong have never played each other in a T20I match before this. This game is a terrific opportunity for the Indians to take an easy win and top Group A.
We have seen from the short evidence so far in the competition that one of the significant game changers for India is Ravindra Jadeja. He can contribute with the bat or the ball or even on the field. Apart from chipping in with a few overs, he played a significant inning in the game against Pakistan getting 35 runs from 29 balls while batting in the number 4 position. Another disciplined bowler for India is Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He was the destroyer-in-chief for India against Pakistan with amazing figures of 4 for 26. The inexperienced Hong Kong batsmen will have their hands full against him in this game.
Virat Kohli is returning to the side and he had to survive a torrid time against the Pakistan bowlers before he started playing a few shots. He is still far away from being at his best but he did contribute a significant 35 from 34 balls with 3 boundaries and a six. Yuzvendra Chahal had picked up 10 wickets in 5 matches before he went into the Pakistan game. He failed to pick any wickets in the match. But he can be quite a handful for the inexperienced Hong Kong batters. Hardik Pandya is in terrific form with the bat and the ball for India. He was the main destroyer for India against Pakistan getting 3 wickets for 25 runs and hitting 38 not out. Dinesh Karthik is a terrific batsman for India although he did not get an opportunity to display his batting skills in the opening game. He is also an excellent wicketkeeper.
HONG KONG
This is the first group stage match for Hong Kong in the Asia Cup, 2022. After winning the qualifier round of the competition earlier, Hong Kong has joined India and Pakistan in Group A of the main event. Many other teams were fighting for a place in the main draw such as UAE, Singapore, and Kuwait. The only thing that goes in the favor of Hong Kong in this game is that they have nothing to lose. So, they will not be under any pressure to win the game to prove something. Hong Kong had to face a fair share of ups and downs on its route to qualification in the main draw.
During the qualifiers for the Asia Cup, 2022 Yasim Murtaza collected 130 runs with an average of 43. His highest score during the qualifiers was 58 runs. He also contributed with the ball picking up 3 wickets. In this game, Hong Kong will depend on the experience of Nizakat Khan at the top of the order. Although he failed in his batting effort in a couple of games, he also recorded scores of 81, 39, and 50 in his other 3 innings. Another crucial player for Hong Kong is Babar Hayat who hit a couple of good scores of 38 not out and 53 in the middle portion of Hong Kong batting. He has also scored a hundred and 4 fifties in this format.
For Hong Kong, Ehsan Khan finished the qualifiers as their highest wicket-taker with 9 wickets. This also included a 4-wicket haul against UAE in the last game. He has picked up 20 wickets from his last 10 T20 internationals. Another good batsman playing for Hong Kong is Kinchit Shah. He can keep the scoreboard ticking with his batting abilities.
Match prediction: India to win today’s match.
