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In the first match of their Asia Cup title defence, India were asked to bat first by Hong Kong. For this match, Khaleel Ahmed made his debut for India making him the 222nd player to represent India in ODIs. The Indian captain, Rohit Sharma opened the innings with his deputy Shikhar Dhawan. After a 45-run partnership, the right handed opener departed as a result of a miscued shot.
On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan was determined to score big and started to build a partnership with Ambati Rayudu. The two batsmen put together a 116-run partnership for the second wicket before Rayudu departed after making a 70-ball 60. Next, it was Dinesh Karthik's turn to bat with Dhawan. Dhawan and Karthik put together a 81-run partnership but Dhawan got out for a 120-ball 127 while he was trying to up the ante in the death overs.
After the centurion's departure, India never recovered. MS Dhoni and Karthik quickly followed the opener to the pavilion as three wickets fell in three overs for just 8 runs. India could not capitalise in the last ten overs as they scored just 48 runs for the loss of five wickets. Kedar Jadhav tried his best but could not do much as he lacked supported at the other end and India managed to post a total of 285 at the end of 50 overs.
Also read: Twitter reacts as Khaleel Ahmed makes his debut for India against Hong Kong
Ambati Rayudu:
Rayudu who is back in the Indian side after nearly two years spoke about his knock today and said "I was happy because I could spend some time in the middle. It was a really slow wicket and you need to really apply yourself there due to the slowness of the surface. It was a challenge." He also spoke about tomorrow's encounter between India and Pakistan "To be really honest, we haven't thought about that and are just focusing on today's game. Need to bowl and field well now." He concluded by agreeing the fact this tournament is an opportunity for him to play more for India: "Yes, the last few years haven't been great due to injuries and other reasons, and I was out of the team. Good to be back and contribute."
Ayaz Menon:
Harbhajan Singh:
Tim Cutler:
Stat Mania:
Some interesting tweets:
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