🏏Asia Cup 🏆2022: India vs Hong Kong🏏

Asia Cup 2022 - Match 4 on 31/08/2022 in Dubai

Group A: India vs Hong Kong

Can Hong Kong overcome monumental odds to give India another scare?

Rohit Sharma's team will be looking to top Group A with another victory in Dubai

The build-up to India versus Hong Kong could not be more different to India versus Pakistan. The buzz around the training grounds, press conferences and the match - in terms of ticket sales and anticipation - is extremely low-key. It's almost as though everyone's just waiting for next Sunday, when India and Pakistan are likely to face off in the second of three possible meetings at this Asia Cup.

But India will remember all too well just how close Hong Kong came to pulling off an incredible upset the last time these sides met. Chances to play India are rare and it's an opportunity Hong Kong are keen to embrace, even if it means a few players sacrificing time with their new borns at home. How a bunch of semi-professional players handle their nerves could determine how far they go in the contest.

Hong Kong's cricket structure is possibly smaller than what you would find even in a tier-2 city in India. They have a pool of 20 players to choose from at the best of times. In comparison, India's senior squad has a pool of 40 that plays simultaneously in different countries. And then there are 20 others who are part of the 'A' tour programmes, all training to be match ready. The gulf Hong Kong have to bridge is monumental.

Hong Kong's motley crew makes big sacrifices to keep the dream alive

India had optional nets on the eve of the game, mindful of the heat and giving their senior players a break. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the day off as the rest of the squad trained in the afternoon heat.

Hong Kong have preferred to train at night. They are coming off a steady diet of games - at least 30 - in the past three months alone in Namibia, Uganda Zimbabwe, Jersey and Oman. But everything pales in comparison to the opportunity ahead of them on Wednesday.

They are excited, and nervous too, but Hong Kong's coach Trent Johnston knows a thing or two about orchestrating upsets - Pakistan in Jamaica (2007), England in Bengaluru (2011) among his famous ones.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR INDIA VS HONG KONG ASIA CUP 2022 MATCH:

The skies will remain cloudy in Dubai on Wednesday, but there are no chances of precipitation during the game. The temperature will hover between 28 to 41 degrees Celsius, with humidity levels of 62 per cent. The wind speed, on the other hand, will be around 10 km per hour.

PITCH REPORT FOR INDIA VS HONG KONG ASIA CUP 2022 MATCH:

The pitch at the Dubai International Stadium mainly supports the batsmen but hasn't been ideal for explosive batting. The average first innings total here is 160-170. Seamers may get some assistance in the initial overs and the extra bounce may help them. Team winning the toss may like to bowl first as the pitch here has generally supported the chasing side.

Probable XI for India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik/Rishabh Pant (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan/R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Probable XI for Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (c), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie (wk), Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Ayush Shukla

Oh aaj India ka match hai😲

What to expect: Another sultry evening with the wind barely offering any respite in terms of comfort or swing and drift. It is still early days in the tournament and as evidenced, the fast bowlers will have assistance off the surface.

Head to head: India 2-0 HK. Both their previous two contests have been played in Asia Cups (2008, 2018) in the ODI format. Wednesday will mark their first meeting in a T20I

Did you know?

- Jadeja has bowled his full quota of four overs only twice in five games since June. Hardik Pandya has bowled more in three of the four games involving both him and Jadeja.

- Nizakat Khan has been in good recent form scoring three of his five 50+ scores in T20Is in 2022: 60 (55) vs Netherlands, 81 (55) vs Singapore and 50 (43) vs Kuwait.

What they said:

"It's been a very long tour for us. Three months on the road, but credit goes to our boys. Players have been playing on leg, there have been injuries as well. But they have held on really well" - Nizakat Khan

"When he [Hardik] was not part of the team, he figured out what he needed to do to his body and his fitness regime, and now he is clocking 140+ easily. His batting quality we all know and it's been brilliant since his comeback. He is a lot calmer now and more confident about what he wants to do, whether it's with the bat or with the ball." - Rohit Sharma

India will win it 👍🏼

So what does the Hong Kong team look like? For starters, they are a team of delivery drivers, businessmen, a student, and fathers who haven't met their newborn children. And yet, they are much more than that. They enter the Asia Cup on the back of three months of rigorous cricket that has taken all over the world. Here's their story, penned by Shashank Kishore, who has just made his way into the press box. This is what he tells me: "Kohli is taking some throw downs at the far end, where there are least number of seats occupied. Next to him is Deepak Hooda doing the same. Head coach Rahul Dravid is right behind Hooda, having a close watch. R Ashwin is having a close hard look at the pitch, and Paras Mhambrey, the bowling coach, joins him in examining a few patches around the length area. Arshdeep Singh is jogging around the ground all by himself, while the rest are in their air-conditioned comfort."

The last time the men in blue faced off against Hong Kong at the Asia Cup (in 2018), India were pushed to the brink of a possible upset before their bowlers bailed them out in the ODI. That would be good enough reason for the favourites to not take their opponents lightly one bit, given the chances of an upset are significantly larger as the number of overs reduce in any cricket contest.

India will be buoyant after their win over Pakistan, but Hong Kong too will be quietly confident of putting up a solid show - considering they comfortably cruised through the qualifier tournament for the Asia Cup to take the lone available spot in the main stages of the tournament. On paper, it seems like a game that is a mere stepping stone into the Super 4 stage for India, however, strange things happen in this beautiful sport of ours. I'm Sreshth Shah (with Hemant Brar joining us soon) - here's a warm welcome to ESPNcricinfo's coverage of the Asia Cup from Dubai. Let's kickstart the action with some big hits from Rishabh Pant in yesterday's nets session, which begs the first big talking point of today's match: will RP get a game today?