Afghanistan bat first, bring in Naib for Asia Cup opener against HK
The pitch, according to reports, has 3.5mm of grass on it, unusual for Abu Dhabi
ESPNcricinfo staff
09-Sep-2025 • 6 hrs ago
Gulbadin Naib came in for Darwish Rasooli • Getty Images
Toss Afghanistan opt to bat vs Hong Kong
Rashid Khan says in T20s the toss doesn't matter as much as giving yourself the best chance. By his own logic, he thinks batting first in Abu Dhabi is the way to go because that's what he's done when the coin fell in his favour. Afghanistan are in a run where they are playing six T20Is in 13 days and that's resulted in a slight reshuffling of personnel. Rashid confirmed one change from the team that stumbled badly in the tri-series final against Pakistan just two days ago, with batter Darwish Rasooli stepping out for allrounder Gulbadin Naib.
The pitch, reports suggest, has 3.5mm of grass on it, which is unusual on this ground. Hong Kong might have taken that into considering during their pre-match plans because their captain Yasim Murtaza wanted to bowl first. He also invited the world to keep an eye on 22-year-old batter Kalhan Challu, whose power-hitting has rescued the team from difficult situations as recently as July against Samoa.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (capt), Noor Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Hong Kong: Anshuman Rath, Zeeshan Ali (wk), Babar Hayat, Kalhan Challu, Nizakat Khan, Aizaz Khan, KD Shah, Yasim Murtaza (capt), A Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal, Ehsan Khan.