Asia Cup 2022: Pant comes in for rested Pandya as Hong Kong win toss, elect to bowl first against India

Dubai:  Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant comes in for all-rounder Hardik Pandya in India’s only change to their playing eleven as Hong Kong captain Nizakat Khan won the toss and elected to bowl first in Asia Cup Group A match at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday.

Pandya was instrumental in India’s thrilling five-wicket win over Pakistan, with his spell of 3-25 in four overs and 33 not out off 17 balls with the bat helped the side chase down 148 with two balls remaining.

Captain Rohit Sharma said that Pant comes in for Pandya, who rested from the clash against Hong Kong keeping in mind how important the all-rounder is, especially on fitness terms, for India. A win for India will seal their Super four spot in Asia Cup 2022.

“Looks like an even covering of grass and we need to bat well to get to a good score. We just want to continue to do what we are doing as a team. We don’t want to look at the opposition and play good and hard cricket. For us, it’s about coming out and doing everything right. We need to do our basics right, which is what got us a victory against Pakistan,” said Rohit.

After winning the toss, Nizakat said his playing eleven is unchanged from their win over the UAE in their final qualifier match at Al-Amerat, Oman, which saw them book their spot in the Asia Cup Group A stage.

“In Oman, we chased down well and that is what we are looking to do. The last time we played India, it was a good game and we know we did some mistakes and want to make sure we capitalize on that by doing better today.”

While the match will be played on a fresh pitch at the Dubai International Stadium, it will be the first time India and Hong Kong will play against each other in men’s T20Is.

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan

Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (captain), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Scott McKechnie (wicketkeeper), Aizaz Khan, Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Ghazanfar and Ayush Shukla

–IANS