Asia Cup 2022: Why Hardik Is Not Playing Against Hong Kong? Rohit Sharma Explains

There was surprise in store at the toss of the India-Hong Kong match at the Asia Cup, as skipper Rohit Sharma announced that Hardik Pandya was not included in the XI. Hardik was the 'Player of the Match' in the clash against Pakistan as he contributed both with the ball and the bat to take his team over the line. Against Hong Kong, however, Rishabh Pant made a comeback into the side while Hardik was rested.

After Hong Kong captain Nizakat Khan won the toss and chose to field, Rohit gave an update on the playing XI and his take on the match.

"We would've bowled first as well," Rohit said. "I believe it will be a good track and we need to bat well to get a good score. We don't want to look too much into the opposition. Want to play fair and hard cricket. For us, it's about coming out and doing everything (importantly our basics) right, which we did against Pakistan. Just one change: Hardik is rested considering how important he is for us. Rishabh Pant is in."

Rishabh was not part of the playing XI against Pakistan.

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India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik(w), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Hong Kong (Playing XI): Nizakat Khan(c), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie(w), Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Ayush