What Was India’s Playing XI When India Last Played Against Hong Kong: India will take on Hong Kong on Wednesday, for their second group game of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022, in Dubai. Having defeated Pakistan on Sunday a victory will seal their place in the Super 4 round.
While many are expecting this to be a cakewalk for the in-form Team India, Rohit Sharma and his players won’t forget how Hong Kong almost defeated India in their last encounter: a group game in the 2018 Asia Cup.
Hong Kong almost defeated India in the 2018 Asia Cup
Yes, Hong Kong came close to beating India then but eventually the Indian bowlers pulled things back and managed a 26-run win.
Batting first, India posted 285 on the board – which should have been enough. Opener Shikhar Dhawan scored 127 runs off 120 balls while number 3 Ambati Rayudu scored 60.
Hong Kong openers, Nizakat Khan and captain Anshuman Rath, responded superbly with a 174-run opening stand in 34 overs to give India a scare. India managed to break that stand, Nizakat dismissed for 92 and Anshuman for 73 before the bowling attack ran through the Hong Kong batting line-up to pull off a close win.
Here is India’s playing XI that played last against Hong Kong:
Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma led the side in the 2018 Asia Cup when Virat Kohli was rested. The Hong Kong game was the first match for India in the tournament. While Dhawan scored 127, Sharma managed only 23 before being dismissed by off-spinner Ehsan Khan.
Middle-order: Ambati Rayudu , Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk)
Ambati Rayudu was a regular part of the Indian team in 2018-19. Against Hong Kong, he scored 60 runs off 70 balls and was involved in a big partnership of 116 runs with Dhawan.
Dinesh Karthik was recalled to the Indian white-ball teams then, and he scored 33 runs off 38 balls vs Hong Kong and partnered Dhawan in a 79-run stand in 69 balls.
After Dhawan’s wicket, though, India suffered a slide, with MS Dhoni dismissed for a duck! And then Karthik got out for 33.
All-rounder: Kedar Jadhav
With Hardik Pandya rested for that game and Ravindra Jadeja dropped from the squad, Kedar Jadhav had emerged as a good all-rounder. Against Hong Kong, Jadhav played a crucial hand of 28* runs off 27 balls taking India to 285.
Jadhav also bowled his off-spin for 7 overs for 28 runs and no wicket.
Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal
Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were rested for the game, so this gave opportunities to Thakur and Khaleel. While Thakur was expensive in his 4 overs, leaking 41 runs, Khaleel did well – 3/48 in his 10 overs – wickets of opener Nizakat Khan, middle-order batters Christopher Carter and Ehsan Khan and helping India turn the game around.
Bhuvneshwar led the bowling attack, conceding 50 runs in his 9 wicketless overs. Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were in full ‘Kul-Cha’ effect then, picking up 5 wickets between them for an economy of fewer than 5 runs per over.
