Photo Credit: Cricket Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Men’s team has qualified for the Asia Cup where they will go into battle against cricket giants, Pakistan and India.
Hong Kong finished unbeaten in the Asia Cup Qualifiers. The final game against the UAE acted as an unofficial final with both teams needing a victory to win the Asia Cup Qualifiers and secure a spot at the Asia Cup. Hong Kong took the honors with a convincing victory and will now travel from Oman to Dubai for the Asia Cup; one of the biggest tournaments in the world.
Chairman of Cricket on the CHK Board, Burji Shroff had this to say:
“For Hong Kong to remain unbeaten during all of their qualifying matches, and qualify for the Asia Cup is an incredible achievement. Even more so, given that the team arrived at this tournament after having been on the road for over 10 weeks.
The resilience and commitment this group has demonstrated throughout an incredibly long period of touring, which has seen them travel to no less than eight countries across three continents, shows how much pride these players have in representing Hong Kong.
We are incredibly proud of the team and excited to see them showcase their skills, as they take on two of the best T20i teams in the world. We wish Trent, Nizakat, and the team every success at the Asia Cup.”
This will be Hong Kong’s fourth time competing at the Asia Cup having previously qualified for the 2004, 2008, and 2018 Asia Cup Tournaments.
Hong Kong finds itself in Group A with India which is currently ranked first in the world and Pakistan which is currently ranked third in the world. Group B is made up of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka all three ranked within the top 10 teams in the world.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the Super Fours stage of the tournament which will follow a round-robin format with the top two teams qualifying for the Asia Cup Final.
Captain Nizakat Khan had this to say:
“As a group, we always believed we could win the Asia Cup Qualifiers and qualify for the Asia Cup but to do it and book a spot at the Asia Cup, that feeling is hard to describe.
This group has been through a lot over the last few months of touring but it has made us stronger as a group. We back each other up no matter what and that mentality is something that makes this group special and I have no doubt that it is a key to our success.
The Asia incredibly special tournament, especially for an associate nation. We are all very proud to represent Hong Kong and we can’t wait to get to Dubai and take on the big teams. Bring it on.”
Hong Kong’s first match will be against India, a team that Hong Kong came up against in the 2018 Asia Cup.
Hong Kong’s match schedule:
31 August 2022 – Hong Kong vs India at Dubai International Stadium – 10 pm HKT
2 September 2022 – Hong Kong vs Pakistan at Sharjah Cricket Ground – 10 pm HKT
Asia Cup fixtures:
https://asiancricket.org/fixtu…
Hong Kong Squad for ACC Asia Cup – UAE
1. Nizakat Khan (Captain)
2. Kinchit Shah (Vice-Captain)
3. Aizaz Khan
4. Zeeshan Ali
5. Yasim Murtaza
6. Haroon Arshad
7. Ehsan Khan
8. Ghazanfar Mohammad
9. Ayush Shukla
10. Babar Hayat
11. Aftab Hussain
12. Scott McKechnie
13. Ahan Trivedi
14. Wajid Shah
15. Waheed Mohammad
16. Dhananjay Rao
17. Ateeq Iqbal
