Hardik Pandya out of PLAYING XI vs Hong Kong in Asia Cup clash, Here's WHY

After their brilliant win over Pakistan in the opening encounter of Asia Cup 2022, Rohit Sharma-led India will be looking to continue their winning momentum when they take on their 2nd match in Group B vs Hong Kong on Wednesday (August 31). India captain Rohit gave a big surprise at the toss which India lost. Hong Kong captain Nizakat Khan won the toss and he asked India to bat first. Rohit said he too would have bowled first had he won the toss.    

"We were going to bowl first as well. 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. We need to do our basics right, which is what got us a victory against Pakistan."

We told you about a big surprise that Rohit dropped at the toss and that was not playing match-winner from last game Hardik Pandya. Hardik was the chief architect in India's 5-wicket win over Pakistan with a 3-wicket haul and an unbeaten 33 off just 17 balls. Rishabh Pant was named as his replacement by Rohit at the toss. The reason why Hardik, despite playing brilliantly vs Pakistan, is missing is because Rohit wants to give him breaks in between as he is an important player keeping T20 World Cup 2022 in mind. 

"One change: Hardik is rested considering how important he is for us, Pant comes in," said Rohit at the toss. 

A win tonight vs Hong Kong will take India into Super 4s where they are likely to meet Pakistan on September 4. 

Teams:

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

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh