India will bat first in their 2018 Asia Cup tournament opener against Hong Kong on Tuesday at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.
Hong Kong captain Anshuman Rath won the toss and invited India to bat first in the Group A match.
Young pacer Khaleel Ahmed makes India debut. The 20-year-old, left-arm medium pacer is likely to share the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Here is the team news:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, K Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal
Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan, Anshuman Rath (c), Babar Hayat, Christopher Carter, Kinchit Shah, Ehsan Khan, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie (wk), Tanwir Afzal, Ehsan Nawaz, Nadeem Ahmed
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Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Lokesh Rahul didn't find a place in the XI; probably given rest after that long and ardous England tour.
At the Toss, India captain Rohit Sharma said that "It's important to get used to the conditions as soon as possible... boys have prepared well for the tournament and are raring to go. Asia Cup is the biggest tournament in Asia, and it's quite competitive, so you cannot take your step off the pedal."
True. Five-time champions Sri Lanka crashed out of the tournament after losing to Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and nobody saw it coming.
A win today will send India, and Pakistan to the Super Four. Hong Kong lost to Pakisan in the last group match. From Group B, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have already progressed to the Super Four.
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This is only the second meeting between the two teams. India beat Hong Kong by 254 runs in their 2008 Asia Cup match at Karachi.
