Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan to face Hong Kong in virtual knock out for place in last four

Given the recent form of Hong Kong, it will not be a walk in the park for the Pakistani team. Hong Kong have recently been in a rich vein of form, winning the qualifying tournament and remaining unbeaten. They ran India close in the previous edition of the tournament, and the last thing Pakistan would want to do is write them off.

Hong Kong will also be aware of the fact that Pakistan are yet to register a T20I win this year. Pakistan have played two T20Is this year, facing defeat in both of them. The first came against Australia while the second defeat was handed to them by the men in blue in their first match of the Asia Cup.

The Pakistani side will once again look at their dependable opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to give them a solid start and for power hitters like Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah to go ballistic at the end. In their last match against India, it was the batting that faltered, giving the team a sub-par total to defend. The bowlers were brilliant in the match, taking wickets at crucial junctures, keeping them in the game.

The pace department of the Pakistani team might miss the services of Naseem Shah over his fitness. Mohammad Hasnain could be slotted in his place for a like-to-like replacement. Hong Kong on the other hand will not take the loss against India as a major heartbreak, as they did take away a lot of positives from the game.

The bowlers were on their mark before Suryakumar just exploded at the end and helped India reach a mammoth total. Their batters showed promise, especially Babur Hayat who top-scored with 41 taking on the Indian bowlers. The players to watch out for in the game would be the batting duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, as well as Shadab Khan and Mohammad