After edging past Pakistan by five wickets on Sunday, India play their second match of the ongoing Asia Cup against Hong Kong on Wednesday. The Indian team management will continue to deal with the selection dilemma as it was forced to make some in-form players warm the benches during the match against Pakistan and not all the picks in the playing XI reaped expected performances. India's top two made a paltry contibution as Rohit Sharma scored 12 runs off 18 balls and KL Rahul got out for a first-ball duck.
In the high-octane clash against Pakistan, India gave a nod to Dinesh Karthik ahead of regular wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Will the team management give Pant a chance in the second game? In case, the southpaw makes it to the squad, who will make place for him? Will it be KL Rahul?
Here is India's predicted Playing XI against Hong Kong:
Rohit Sharma (c): The Indian skipper had perished on 12 runs off 18 balls while trying to charge Pakistan spinner Mohammad Nawaz in the campaign opener. A big knock from Rohit's bat is highly aniticipated.
Virat Kohli: As KL Rahul's return to competitive cricket post injury has been a forgettable one, the team management might rope in Rishabh Pant in the playing XI in his place and Virat Kohli could open the batting in that case. Kohli had scored a 35 off 34 balls in the last match, showing some glimpses of his vintage form.
Suryakumar Yadav: The right-handed batter scored a run-a-ball 18 against Pakistan. He played good shots before being cleaned up by Naseem Shah while trying to boost the scoring rate.
Rishabh Pant (wk): The left-handed batter is a power-hitter and can change the course of the match single-handedly.
Dinesh Karthik: The wicketkeeper did a good job behind the stumps before scoring an unbeaten one run off one ball against Pakistan. Karthik would be eyeing to get a promotion in batting against Hong Kong.
Hardik Pandya: The all-rounder has been on top of his game in the recent past. Hardik returned figures of 3 for 25 and then scored a match-winning 33 not out off 17 balls to guide India home.
Ravindra Jadeja: The southpaw remained wicketless against Pakistan but he was economical in his two-over spell. Meanwhile, Jadeja scored a 35 off 29 balls, stitching a crucial 52-run partnership with Hardik for the fifth wicket.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The right-arm pacer picked four wickets while conceding 26 runs in his four overs against Pakistan. India will expect him to keep performing in the same away in upcoming matches.
Avesh Khan: The right-arm pacer conceded 19 runs in his two overs while scalping the only wicket of Fakhar Zaman. Avesh must be aiming for an economical spell alongside taking more wickets.
Yuzvendra Chahal: The leg-spinner remained wicketless in his four-over spell against Pakistan and conceded 32 runs. Chahal will look to get among wickets with the match against Hong Kong.
Arshdeep Singh: The left-arm pacer picked two wickets against Pakistan, but what impressed more was his maturity and calmness while bowling under pressure.