KL Rahul struggled for his 36 runs vs HK, while Pant had missed the first match against Pakistan.
India defeated Hong Kong by 40 runs to book a place in the Super 4s stage and Suryakumar Yadav was the Player of the Match for his blistering 68*-run knock with 6 fours and 6 sixes to his name, which helped India post 192/2 in 20 overs despite a slow start.
Then the bowlers did enough to keep the minnow side to 152/5 and won the match by 40 runs.
At the media interaction, the batter was asked about Pant’s exclusion in the first match and Hardik Pandya’s exclusion in the second match.
“Dekho sir team management ka call h, me to na captain hu, na vice-captain hu. (Sir, I am neither captain nor vice-captain, and it was the team management’s call). Ye aap unse pucchye. (Ask them about this). But accha laga Rishabh ko playing XI me dekh ke. (It was good to see Rishabh in the playing XI). Everything is fine,” Suryakumar replied as the press meet burst into laughter.
Another interesting question was about KL Rahul, who has not found his rhythm yet in the two matches which he has played in the Asia Cup.
Asia Cup 2022: “This gesture is truly humbling,” Virat Kohli thanks Team Hong Kong for their gesture
“To aap bol rahe ho KL bhai ko nahi khilana chahie? (Are you saying that we should not play KL Rahul?). He is coming back after an injury and he also needs some time. And we have some time,” Suryakumar said with a laughter.
India joined Afghanistan in the super 4s stage while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will clash for a spot on September 1 and then Pakistan and Hong Kong will battle it out for the last spot.