Asia Cup 2018, Match Prediction: India vs Hong Kong

In 2008, India celebrated its 25th anniversary of the 1983 World Cup win by running over Hong Kong in the Asia Cup. Over a decade later, the Men in Blue start off this year's campaign against the same side, now led by Rohit Sharma, one of India's two survivors from that game in Karachi.

Just like 2008, the last Asia Cup they participated in, Hong Kong have their task cut out, being in the same group as Pakistan and India. They enjoyed a breezy run in the tournament's qualifiers, losing just one game and qualified for the main event, curing some of the pain caused by their stripping of ODI status earlier this year, but the real deal is now.

They flattered to deceive against Pakistan but will be itching for a much better showing against India, who are Virat Kohli-less for the tournament. There will be curtain-raisers for India, ahead of the latter's much-anticipated game against their arch-rivals.

Date: 18th September 2018

Time: 1700 hours IST

Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

# The primary face-off (a one-sided contest, most likely) will be between India's batting might and Hong Kong's assortment of bowlers: the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya will find more comfort in white-ball cricket after a tough Test series in England and will be looking to get their confidence going.

# Rohit Sharma, the captain, is expected to walk out with Dhawan to face the new ball. There is a healthy debate over MS Dhoni's batting position, with some ex-cricketers, including Zaheer Khan, endorsing the No.4 spot for him.

# Anshuman Rath, the star of the Hong Kong side at the age of 20, has conceded that his team will go all out against India, knowing fully well that "we've got nothing to lose". The openers started decently against Pakistan, but the rest of the batsmen couldn't stitch a partnership in the middle overs, which could be all the more tricky against an Indian spin attack featuring Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Match prediction

If India bat first, they can be expected to rack up a big total against a Hong Kong bowling attack that still has a lot of catching up to do. Even without Kohli, this is one of the strongest batting line-ups on paper and will be looking forward to some game time in the middle, on a surface that they have to play again on, against Pakistan, on Wednesday.

Hong Kong's middle-order is a big concern for them; they imploded against Pakistan and cannot be expected to haul up their game against a testing Indian bowling line-up.

It's safe to say it's going to be India all the way in the fourth game of the tournament unless Hong Kong manages to churn out an earth-shattering performance.