Asia Cup 2018: India vs Hong Kong, Match 4 - Hong Kong Predicted XI

Hong Kong faced a massive set back in the first game of the Asia Cup against Pakistan. Although there weren’t too many expectations from them, looking at the performances in the Qualifiers, it was expected that they could give a much tougher competition. Their batsmen failed terribly but the bowlers fared decently. The entire team seemed to be under great pressure which was one of the reasons for their downfall.

They will now be up against the tournament favourites, India, in the fourth match of the tournament. Just like the game against Pakistan, it won’t be an easy job for Hong Kong against the designated hosts. However, with really nothing to lose, the Qualifier team should look to shred the pressure and play more freely in what could be their last game of the tournament.

Here we bring you Hong Kong’s predicted XI for this game:

Openers (Anshuman Rath, Nizakat Khan)

Skipper Anshuman Rath looked good in the team’s tournament opener. He played some glorious drives which left everyone in awe. But the 20-year-old fancied nudging the ball towards the third man region once too often and got out to Faheem Ashraf behind the wickets. Anshuman afford to play such loose shots at such a big stage. He will need to play with a lot more confidence against India as he is the best batsman in their lineup.

Nizakat Khan was also looking quite promising but he will be kicking himself for such pathetic and reckless running between the wickets. The 26-year-old should try to stay in the middle for at least the first 10 overs and then look to take the team forward.

Middle Order (Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Christopher Carter)

Babar Hayat, who looked so promising in the qualifiers and in the Global T20 Canada earlier, had a dreadful stay in the middle against Pakistan. He looked to be troubled against the short balls and found it tough to get bat on the ball. The number three batsman should ease his nerves and enjoy his stay in the middle if he’s got to make an impact. He will continue in the same position in the team and tends to be quite dangerous.

Kinchit Shah was among the few batsmen who tried to put up a fight. He crawled to 26 runs off 50 balls, yet these runs were quite crucial for the team. The Mumbai-born all-rounder could be promoted to bat at number four and Christopher Carter will follow him up at 5. Carter got out due to poor shot selection in the last game. The Hong Kong batsmen, rather than taking all the pressure and looking to hit the boundaries, should try and realise that every run counts for the team.

All-rounders (Aizaz Khan, Tanwir Afzal)

Aizaz Khan was the top scorer for Hong Kong against Pakistan with 27 runs off 47 balls. There could be a possibility that he gets to bat higher in the batting order against India. With the ball, he conceded 19 runs in the 3.4 overs that he bowled and looked decent. Although Tanwir Afzal isn’t known much for his heroics with the bat, he lived up to the expectations with the ball. He bowled two maidens in four overs and conceded 13 runs.

Wicketkeeper (Scott McKechnie)

Scott McKechnie isn’t quite a proficient batsman. But he is safe as a house with the gloves. He pouched the catches of Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam in the last encounter and did not concede any byes. McKechnie should try to contribute a little bit better with the bat as that would help his team in a great way.

Bowlers (Ehsan Khan, Tanveer Ahmed, Nadeem Ahmed)

This is the only place where Hong Kong could be fancying a change. Ehsan Nawaz will most probably make way for the 20-year-old Tanveer Ahmed. The right-arm fast bowler born in Pakistan has played six ODIs thus far and picked five wickets. He will be assisted by Ehsan Khan and Nadeem Ahmed in the bowling lineup. Khan picked two wickets in their first game. Ahmed, being a left-arm spinner, is expected to trouble some of the Indian batsmen as well.

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates.