KL Rahul, India’s vice-captain for Asia Cup 2022 couldn’t have wished for an easier opposition to get his rhythm back as a buoyant India get ready to steam roll new comers Hong Kong in their second and final group A match of the tournament at Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday, August 31.
The group A match won’t be more than a glorified net session for Rohit Sharma’s men against a team, mostly comprising Pakistani and Indian expats, who otherwise are not good enough to play first-class cricket in either of the two nations.
After a hard-earned victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in a last-over thriller, scripted by all-rounder Hardik Pandya, the focus against Hong Kong will be on batters and their adequate game time.
Rahul, whose first T20I in 2022 was against Pakistan in ongoing Asia Cup, would want to come out all guns blazing and may take this chance to try an alternate batting approach at the onset, compared to what has been his style at the IPL.
In T20Is, teams are going for impact performance and often a 20-ball 45 is of greater value than a 90 not out of 65 balls.
Quality of an innings and its significance in the larger context of the game is more important at this stage as India get ready for the T20 World Cup that to be hosted by Australia in upcoming October of this year.
Obviously, the quality of Hong Kong bowling to put it politely, won’t match up to Pakistan, but there is always a fear as one doesn’t exactly know what to expect from an unknow entity.
Hence, it is important that Rahul uses this opportunity to the fullest to gain his confidence before the start of the Super Fours and business end of the tournament.
Skipper Rohit has made it clear that experimentation will continue and hence one shouldn’t be surprised if there is another batting order that could be tried out on Wednesday.
The match between India vs Hong Kong will be a great opportunity for top batter Virat Kohli to hit according to his own wish. Even Rohit, after a subdued game against Pakistan, would like to deposit a few into the stands.
It would also be interesting to see if Ravindra Jadeja is sent on No. 4 against Hong Kong or Whether Rishabh Pant is tried in place of Dinesh Karthik, just to give him some game time. Jadeja performed mind-blowing in the previous match and he was the heroic batter who handled the team after going out Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul.
R. Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi could also get a look in playing XI in the place of Yuzvendra Chahal and Jadeja.
Overall, games like Hong Kong will be a full experimental ground for India that would bring opportunity to all players of the announced squad, while key players would be rested for better preparation to face challenging rivals like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
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