IND VS HK - 4th Match, Group A, Asia Cup 2018

In the end what was meant to be an informal audition has seen India breaking a lot of sweat. How much bearing will this have on India's performance tomorrow? I had it on my wish list as a question to Rohit Sharma. He did mention they are up for it. Mentally - yes, physically - ?. The answers will unravel tomorrow. Until then, this is Kumar Abhisekh Das who bids adieu on behalf of his esteemed mates - Vineet Anantharaman, Akshay Maanay, Nikhil Jadhav, Hariprasad Sadanandan and Mukesh.

Shikhar Dhawan: I was doing my process and was working hard. I was being patient. I knew that runs gonna come and had the belief in my process. I was not taking extra risk today and was just playing on the merit of the ball. My intent was always positive. They were bowling in the right areas as well. One of their bowlers was not very quick but he landed it in right areas on a pitch where the ball was coming slowly on to the bat.

Rohit Sharma, winning captain: Not a lot of things went to plan. But to win the game is very important. We always knew it was not going to be easy. We had a pretty inexperienced bowling line up but having said that there are no excuses. We made our mistakes where we could have attacked or we could have defended better. This tournament is all about learning. And these guys will learn. But in the end, these guys have done the job in the past. When the going gets tough, you need characters and a couple of the characters did well. You have to give credit to Hong Kong. They played really well and showed good determination. Great partnership and great batting from those two openers. Great learning for the bowling group. To handle the situations was important. It was better to have this in the first game of the tournament. Shikhar was a great positive. He had a long tour of England but he came back determined. It was not easy out there. Ambati got a brilliant fifty as well. Khaleel is a very exciting player to have in our squad. Today, he showed that despite not starting well he found a way to come back. And that is what as a captain I need. He stuck to his strength and got his rewards. We know we are playing back-to-back matches and that is why we rested a few players considering the amount of cricket we have played. We are looking forward to the game tomorrow.

Harsha Bhogle: Well played Hong Kong. Tough game for India. Sometimes good to get asked tough questions before a big game.

Anshuman Rath, losing captain: (On the performance) We are proud but it is bitter sweet. We were in a position to win and probably should have. We had a good start but lost too many key wickets in the middle but credit to the Indian bowlers. They bowled well and bowled to their plans. (On Hong Kong's fearless brand of cricket) We have had no pressure coming into the tournament and wanted to play with a smile on our faces on the big stage. We've done that and done ourselves proud. (Whether the team had responded well after the last defeat) Yes, would have been great if we had rolled over the best team in the world, wasn't to be but super proud of the boys. (On the positives) Loads of them, Nizakat's innings at the top was really good, he had been batting at 4 during the Qualifiers and gave the nod to bat up. Then our bowling in the death, gave just 48 off the last 10 overs and that against the best ODI side in the world really means a lot. Shows the brand of cricket we play. The way Shikhar batted, Rayudu batted well and they could have got 350 but we stuck at it in this heat to pull it back.

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Highest totals by Associate teams vs India:
265/5 Ken, Gwalior, 1998
259/8 HK, Dubai, 2018 *
259 Ire, Hamilton, 2015

Highest opening stands in losing run chases:
188 T Dilshan - U Tharanga v Ind Rajkot 2009
174 NIZAKAT KHAN - A RATH v Ind Dubai 2018
166 J Ryder - B McCullum v Ind Christchurch 2009
165 N Knight - M Trescothick v Aus Hobart 2003

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India have managed to get out of a self-made maze. They huffed and puffed for a major part of it but held their nerves when it mattered the most to win by 26 runs. It was about the tail-spin! India fluffed their chance of getting beyond 300 by adding only 48 in their last 10 and Hong Kong ran out of fuel when the finish line was at the next bend. Erstwhile, India settled for only 285 despite a Shikhar Dhawan special. They lost too many wickets in the end and even then everyone thought how quickly would India finish it off. But all and sundry were in for a humble pie treat from Hong Kong. An opening partnership of 174 runs from Nizakat Khan(92) and Anshuman Rath(73) ensured India had to pinch themselves out of the nightmare. And once awake, the latex-laden wrists of Kuldeep and Chahal took over. Their 20 overs together went for 88 and more importantly scalped 5 wickets. But that was not it. The debutant - Khaleel Ahmed - might have been an obscure name, not anymore. His spirited spells after the 35-over mark tilted the beam hugely in India's favor as well.

Khaleel Ahmed to Tanwir Afzal, no run, in the blockhole zone from round the wicket and the batsman misses. India win by 26 runs or rather Hong Kong lose by 26 runs. So near yet so far..

Khaleel Ahmed to Nawaz, 1 run, back of a length delivery and has been steered away to third man for a single. 27 runs off the final ball. Well tried Hong Kong

Khaleel Ahmed to Nawaz, no run, drops the ball short but cramps the batsman for room. Nawaz backed away to cut it but missed

Khaleel Ahmed to Tanwir Afzal, 1 run, pushes the ball away to cover for a single. The bowler aimed for the sticks as he saw the batsman backing away

Khaleel Ahmed to Nawaz, 1 run, too full and has been pushed away into the off-side for a single

Khaleel Ahmed - 16th Indian bowler to take three wickets on ODI debut. None of the previous 15 took the fourth wicket

Ehsan Nawaz, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Khaleel Ahmed to Ehsan Khan, out Caught&Bowled!! The slower ball gets the better of the batsman. Ehsan Khan was trying to line up for a big shot and then ended up getting a leading edge as he tried to clip the ball away. The ball seemed to have held on the batsman and the bowler himself got under it to take it. Third wicket of the evening for Khaleel Ahmed. Ehsan Khan c and b Khaleel Ahmed 22(25)

Khaleel Ahmed to Ehsan Khan, THATS OUT!! Caught&Bowled!!

So, 30 off the final over.

Bhuvneshwar to Tanwir Afzal, FOUR, another highish full toss and has been clubbed down the ground for a four. Did not time it but got enough wood on it to send it past mid-off for a four

Yagyansh: "@Anant - Bhuvi might look rusty, but throwing the young man in place of Bhuvi means bowling the death overs. I think it's very risky against someone like Pakistan. If India has enough confidence in their batting, they can play Khaleel in place of Pandya I guess."

Bhuvneshwar to Ehsan Khan, 1 run, slightly highish full toss and the batsman knocks the ball away to mid-wicket for a single