Hong Kong made a good account of themselves in their first match of the 2022 Asia Cup against record title holders India. Not only did they manage to score over 150 runs against them and remain unbeaten, they also went toe to toe with India for much of the first 10 overs and former India batter Ajay Jadeja has said that they can dream of going a step further in their match against Pakistan on Thursday because of the latter's history of being wildly inconsistent.
Pakistan have looked a far more steady side since Babar Azam took over as captain and have to beat Hong Kong on Sunday to go through to the Super Fours, in which they could face India again on Sunday. Jadeja said that while Hong Kong performed well against India, it has to be noted that Rohit Sharma's side struggled in the first 10 overs as much because of the forms of their individual players as the performance of the bowling side.
“I am not too sure about the quality but they would want to do it,” said Jadeja on Cricbuzz about Hong Kong pulling off an upset win over Pakistan. “They would like to show that it wasn't a one-off, that we weren't bowled out by India. The way I see it, sometimes the numbers flatter like (Kusal) Mendis. People who haven't watched (the match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Wednesday) will look at the numbers and say, 'Wow what a good knock'. Similarly (India's struggle) in the first 10 overs had a lot to do with KL Rahul who has not had a go for such a long time, Virat Kohli has been in indifferent form, Rohit Sharma got out early. It wasn't the truly reflection. Quality-wise they are far behind but they would want to repeat it,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“I am not too sure about the quality but they would want to do it,” said Jadeja on Cricbuzz about Hong Kong pulling off an upset win over Pakistan. “They would like to show that it wasn't a one-off, that we weren't bowled out by India. The way I see it, sometimes the numbers flatter like (Kusal) Mendis. People who haven't watched (the match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Wednesday) will look at the numbers and say, 'Wow what a good knock'. Similarly (India's struggle) in the first 10 overs had a lot to do with KL Rahul who has not had a go for such a long time, Virat Kohli has been in indifferent form, Rohit Sharma got out early. It wasn't the truly reflection. Quality-wise they are far behind but they would want to repeat it,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“And why not. They don't have to look at it the way I am, they have to dream big. They can think, we almost had India. Pakistan anyway slips on the banana peel very often. SO maybe we can lay that out today and something would go wrong. But first you have to eat that banana to put that peel out.”