India will be hoping to come flying out of the blocks when they clash up against Hong Kong in their first encounter of the 2008 Asia Cup played in Pakistan. India saw their winning streak halted by Pakistan last time around in the tri-nations tournament in Bangladesh and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be aiming to carry on all the good work done by India in the past one year when he comes up against Hong Kong.

India have been competitive throughout this year and although they have lost out to Pakistan in the finals, team India have in general given an excellent account of themselves. The recently concluded IPL has given the Indian national selectors much food for thought and they will be no doubt impressed by the performance of some of the youngsters in the side. Gautam Gambhir has come of age in the past one year and his batting poweress at the top of the order will give the Indian batting lineup a lot of confidence. Robin Uthappa also shined lower down the order and although the top order will be missing Sachin Tendulkar, the hard hitting poweress possessed by the lower order makes the Indian batting line up a formidable one. In the bowling department, Ishant Sharma has been headway and is expected to play a big part against Asian rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sreesanth however is injured for this meeting and his place may be taken up by Munaf Patel who was impressive in the Indian premier League. The likes of Manoj Tewary and Suresh Raina may be selected for this clash but all that depends on a late decision of Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to pick or drop struggling Yusuf Pathan.

Hong Kong on the other hand , will take much heart from their spirited performance last time around against Pakistan. Hong Kong could have gone on and secure their maiden ODI victory but for a brilliant ninth wicket stand between Alam and Sohail Tanvir. While the batting looked lackluster, a 155 run defeat does not quite show the evenness of the encounter. Hong Kong put Pakistan to the line and their bowling attack is capable of creating havoc on their day. One player in particular who has impressed cricket lovers all over the world is Naveen Ahmed. The 20 year old left arm spinner was excellent against Pakistan and his 4-51 bag will give Mahendra Singh Dhoni much food for thought when India come up against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup this coming Wednesday 25th May 2008 at Karachi in Pakistan.

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Tag :- Asia Cup   Hong Kong   India   IPL   Karachi   Manoj Tewary   Naveen Ahmed   Pakistan   Sohail Tanvir   Suresh Raina