'Nothing to lose' – Anshuman Rath hopes for better show against India

Rath knows that after the eight-wicket defeat to Pakistan, Hong Kong can only look to put up a better show. He is hoping for exactly that against India on Tuesday, 18 September.

"Well, you know all I can say is we don't have the greatest starts to tournaments. If you look at our history – in the Asia Cup qualifiers we lost the first game to Malaysia. In the T20 World Cup qualifiers, we lost to Jersey in our first game," he said after the game against Pakistan.

"Going into the India game, we've got nothing to lose. Hopefully, the guys will pick themselves up and learn from their mistakes, myself included."

After winning the toss and batting first, Hong Kong struggled to build partnerships against the experience and ability of Pakistan's bowling attack. Usman Shinwari, the Player of the Match, returned 3/19 in 7.3 overs, while Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan picked up two wickets each.

The Hong Kong innings began decently with their openers, Nizakat Khan and Rath, getting double-digit scores. However, Nizakat was run out by a direct hit from Shadab and his captain followed soon, falling for 19 to Faheem Ashraf in the ninth over with the total 32/2.

"There's no excuse with the way we batted. Three (four) people getting to double-figures is not enough, especially none of them converting, myself included. Getting starts is great but you've to kick on. That's certainly a lesson we'll look to rectify in the next game against India," said Rath.

After their openers fell, it became increasingly tough for Hong Kong to churn out something substantial. Babar Hayat and Christopher Carter could not stay put for too long. Kinchit Shah, who walked in at three-down, built a somewhat promising partnership with Aizaz Khan, the No.7 – the two added 53 runs for the sixth wicket, ensuring their total crossed 100. Aizaz was finally dismissed for 27 by Shinwari in the 31st over, and Hong Kong went from 97/6 in 30.2 overs to 116 all out in 37.1.

"Not a lot of positives to take from today, but the partnership between Kinchit and Aizaz was very good in the middle order, for them to notch up a partnership against this Pakistan attack was very good. And Ahsan Khan's bowling (2/34) as well. He really stuck out there despite not having a lot to bowl at," acknowledged Rath.

While Hong Kong have played a lot of cricket in the build-up to the Asia Cup, they are now competing with teams in the top flight of international cricket. Rath wants his team to make the most of the opportunity.

"I think it might have helped getting used to these conditions a bit more, but in saying that we did play the qualifiers in Malaysia a couple of weeks ago. So we're not shy of cricket," said Rath.

"It's great. For us all it is a fantastic experience to see how a top team operates. Especially since we haven't played that much against the top five sides essentially. It's good to see how they go about their things and hopefully, our boys will pick up some lessons from them."