India vs Hong Kong, Asia Cup 2022: KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and question of playing spinners

The win against Hong Kong in Asia Cup 2022 was not even a consideration and once India ended up scoring so over 190 runs, it was just for the records. This group has in any case been set up to ensure that India and Pakistan make it to the Super Four and Hong Kong is one match that would ensure enough points for the team finishing second to also make the grade.

This was a match where everyone in question would be expected to get some serious match practice and score some runs that would make those who were a little hesitant about their form to get that sense of security.

India duly won the match and topped Group A to make it to the Super Four. But even as a few wrinkles were ironed out in some manner, some interesting questions did crop up. While questions will always come, in every match, these were pertaining to things to do with the matches to come.

Was Rishabh Pant inclusion wasted?

There is an interesting one. Who among Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik is the choice for the T20 World Cup? If the match with Pakistan is any indication, Karthik seems ahead, which is a little surprising and inconceivable, given that Pant has been the favourite for long and he is now also beginning to get comfortable in white-ball cricket.

Also, if the change in the line-up does not merit a little bit of experimentation, why make any change at all? India’s winning combination against Pakistan just had that one change – Pant instead of Hardik Pandya – in the Hong Kong match. So, if Pant is in the side, surely, he needs to get a bat. If there is a change in personnel and no change in the batting order, especially in a match where no way all the top seven batters were going to get a hit, then why was the new player included?

No other match will be as easy, irrespective of whoM you play. As it turns out, India have two big ones back-to-back in the Super Four, against Pakistan and then Afghanistan, on September 4 and 6 respectively, and definitely you need all your potential players to get a hit. In fact, all the reserves could have been fielded in the Hong Kong match, but that would be expecting too much.

So, if tomorrow India need to play Pant in the XI against one of these matches, he will go in without any batting in the tournament. May not be a major issue, but could well become one.

KL Rahul fails to convince

After Rahul’s first-ball duck against Pakistan, there was a lot of trolling of social media, saying that whatever he did in the Hong Kong match, he’d be in a corner. That, to an extent, is true.

Rahul was nothing more than cautious in this match as well. He scored at a good pace, but at no stage looked convincing. In fact, at times he was positively straggling.

Rahul too is surely in the World Cup consideration, so how he fares is important. He has so far looked quite unsure. One wonders if he has been brought back without being totally fit. Or is it just a mental thing?

Playing spin bowling

There was one stage during the Indian innings, with Rahul and Virat Kohli at the crease when one was left wondering, “if they are not being able to deal with these spinners, how will they fare against the better bowlers”?

Both the batters found it difficult to get the spinners away, especially the slow left-arm Yasim Murtaza. Neither of them was able to deal with the slow pace and was unable to alter the normal game of stepping out and hitting him over the top. Rahul was not comfortable even against the leg-spin of Mohammad Ghazanfar. He did hit him for a six, and as Gautam Gambhir correctly observed in the commentary box, he didn’t go for another big shot even though it was merited, in the same over.

Compare that with how Suryakumar Yadav dealt with Murtaza and the rest. A swept four off the first ball, another off the very next ball and by the time the Hong Kong bowlers realised what was going on, the scoring had gone through the roof.

It was an easy win but little will be easy in the Super Four. Imagine getting stuck against Rashid Khan and the other Afghan bowlers. Even Bangladesh or Sri Lanka will pose a challenge and we are not even mentioning Pakistan.

Big teams come good when it matters the most but these are questions that could still crop up, especially the spin issue. Will be interesting indeed to see how it all goes.

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