It will be advantage Pakistan when it starts its campaign against Hong Kong in its first match of the Asia Cup 2018 in Dubai on 16 September 2018. Pakistan will be having the upper hand in most games since it has played most games in the UAE.
Live updates:
97/6 Hong Kong
Hong Kong win toss and bat first
Pakistan raring to go
Pakistan has been two times Asia Cup champions, and Hong Kong is relatively minnows in comparison. It will be a good platform for Pakistan to show that they mean business. The last time Pakistan had won the Asia Cup was in 2012 in Bangladesh, and a victory in the 2018 Asia Cup will do a big help in raising the morale of the team and its fans.
Pakistan Board is already facing a lot of financial crunches since no match is being held in Pakistan after the fateful terror attack against the Sri Lanka team way back in 2009.
Hong Kong nothing to lose
On the other hand, it will be an excellent opportunity for Hong Kong to play against the best teams in the world of international cricket. Hong Kong has nothing to lose and everything to gain from its exposure to the best of international cricket. They had a grueling run off to get to the qualifying stage and have defeated five teams to get to the final six of Asia Cup. They had got over UAE to reach here.
The strength of Pakistan will be the batting. The middle order will depend a lot on the performance of Babar Azam.
Fakhar Zaman is also in great form with a very successful stint against Zimbabwe. Shoaib Mallik also has many years of experience behind him, and Asif Ali can provide some quick runs.
Pakistan has a pace battery which could be considered as envy by every other nation. The pace battery will be led by Mohammad Amir and will be ably assisted by Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Junaid Khan, and Hasan Ali.
The Asia Cup 2018, Pakistan and Hong Kong match live streaming will be available on Hotstar.
Read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka live cricket streaming on GTV, Hotstar at 5 PM IST on Saturday
Also read: India vs England 5th Test day 5 live cricket streaming on Sony Six at 3 PM IST on Tuesday
