Cricket has long been seen as a gentleman’s game. Cricket players never failed to wow their fans with their kind deeds, whether they were standing with rivals or encouraging their own teammates.

Following the India and Hong Kong matchup in Group A of the Asia Cup, one such act that recently captured many hearts occurred. India won the game against Hong Kong by a score of 40 runs, securing their Super 4 position. After the game, the Hong Kong team gave top Indian batter Virat Kohli a jersey from their side along with a touching note written on it.

“Virat, thank you for inspiring a generation. We stand with you. There are many incredible days ahead. With strength, with love, Team Hong Kong.”

The message read

By sharing a photo of the shirt on his Instagram story and thanking them, Kohli expressed his gratitude for the opponent team’s kind gesture.

“Thank you @hkcricket. This gesture is truly humbling and very very sweet.”

He said

In the game, India scored 192/2 after Hong Kong put them in to bat thanks to a magnificent 28-ball 62* from Suryakumar Yadav and an unbeaten 44-ball 59 from Virat Kohli.

India had a sluggish start and appeared to be headed for a low total, but Suryakumar increased the stakes late to enable India finish well. He scored 12 runs, including four in the last over, on six fours and six sixes.

During the Powerplay, Hong Kong demonstrated some promise with the bat, but as India’s spinners came on, they lost steam.

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They were led by Babar Hayat’s 41 off 35 balls, and Kinchit Shah’s 30 off of 28. Hong Kong ultimately received a score of 152/5.

Hong Kong needs to defeat Pakistan in the last Group A match in order to have any chance at all of moving on to the Super-4 round of the Asia Cup.

Hardik Pandya‘s exclusion from the starting XI was revealed by captain Rohit Sharma during the toss of the Asia Cup match between India and Hong Kong. In the match against Pakistan, Hardik was named “Player of the Match” for his contributions with the ball and the bat to help his team win. However, Rishabh Pant returned to the lineup against Hong Kong as Hardik rested.

Rohit provided an update on the playing XI and his thoughts on the game after Hong Kong captain Nizakat Khan won the toss and elected to field.

“We would’ve bowled first as well, I believe it will be a good track and we need to bat well to get a good score. We don’t want to look too much into the opposition. Want to play fair and hard cricket. For us, it’s about coming out and doing everything (importantly our basics) right, which we did against Pakistan. Just one change: Hardik is rested considering how important he is for us. Rishabh Pant is in.”

Rohit said

Rishabh was not part of the playing XI against Pakistan.

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

India has crossed the Pakistan hurdle. After a horrible loss in the 2021 World Cup there was some doubt on their chances of beating Pakistan, and now after doing so they will feel a lot more confident. Hong Kong though will come into this game with some happy memories. Last time both teams faced of in the Asia Cup Hong Kong came very close to beating India.

It was in an ODI but the fight from Hong Kong was brilliant as they came very close to winning against a quality Indian team. With India facing Hong Kong there could be some new players brought in, unless India decide to look for stability and back the same team. There is also a question of trying to fit in Rishabh Pant, who may come in for Rahul or Karthik, while Jadeja is likely to maintain his spot as a floater in the batting line-up.

IND vs HK Head to Head

Played- 0 | India- 0 | Pakistan- 0 | Tie- 0

IND vs HK Match Details

Date: 31st August 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST

Venue: Dubai International Stadium

IND vs HK Weather Report

The weather is clear and warm for the evening of the IND vs HK encounter.

IND vs HK Pitch Report

The Dubai Track is likely to be flat and good for batting. Dew will be a factor in the second half and the side batting second will be in with a huge advantage.

IND vs HK Predicted Playing XI

India Playing XI

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin/ Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan

Hong Kong Playing XI

Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Scott McKchenie, Aizaz Khan, Aftab Hussain, Dhananjay Rao, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Mohammad Waheed, Wazeed Shah, Zeeshan Ali, Ayush Shukla

IND vs HK Key Players

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya is in the middle of a commanding patch. He is at his calmest and most confident state and is looking very good out in the middle. With both bat and ball, Hardik Pandya is showing his ability to win games and it will be interesting to see how many matches he will win for India in the coming months.

Nizakat Khan

Nizakat Khan batted with a lot of talent and skill in the last encounter between both sides. He is a very good batter and almost carried Hong Kong home against India four years ago. With more experience in him now he may want to prove a point as Hong Kong fight for a spot in the Super 4.

See Also: https://cricketwinner.com/hardik-pandya-the-alpha-male-of-the-indian-team/

IND vs HK Match Tips

Hong Kong came very close against India last time but will probably find it a lot tougher this time around. India are doing a pretty good job with both departments and will be a bridge too far for Hong Kong.

Match Prediction: India Will Win the Match