Asia Cup: India asked to bat first against Hong Kong

Abu Dhabi, Sep 18 Hong Kong won the toss and asked India bat first in the latter's opening clash of the ongoing Asia Cup here at Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.

Following the toss, Indian captain Rohit Sharma stated, "It is important to become accustomed to the conditions as soon as possible, yet the boys have arranged well and are raring to go. Asia Cup is the greatest competition in Asia, and it's quite competitive, so you can't make your stride off the pedal. It is something we've talked about, but the boys are excited."

Rohit proceeded with: "It's the first time when they're (the group) having in this impact of the world. Our batting has constantly ruled and we were stressed over our knocking down some pins, yet it's the contrary now, and it is something we are looking at."

Reflecting on the playing XI, Sharma confirmed that fast bowler Khaleel would make his ODI debut against Hong Kong in the match.

Hong Kong captain Anshuman Rath, then again, said that the group is anticipating perceiving how the pitch acts over the span of the match.

India will look to kick-start their Asia Cup campaign on a triumphant note as it will enable them to increase some force in front of their much-built up second conflict of the tournament against arch-rival Pakistan.

Following are the India and Hong Kong squads for the match:

India-Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Khaleel Ahmed.

Hong Kong-Nizakat Khan, Anshuman Rath (c), Babar Hayat, Christopher Carter, Kinchit Shah, Ehsan Khan, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie (wk), Tanwir Afzal, Ehsan Nawaz, Nadeem Ahmed.