Asia Cup 2018: Team India's Heart-Warming Gesture For Valiant Hong Kong

Rohit Sharma's Team India survived a scare against Hong Kong, registering a 26-run win at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. Needing 286 to win, Hong Kong came agonisingly close to pulling off an upset by defeating the number two team in the ICC One-day International (ODI) rankings. To acknowledge Hong Kong's valiant effort Team India visited their lesser-known opponents' dressing room and congratulated them for punching above their weight.

Dressing Room : #TeamIndia's heart-warming gesture.

After a hard-fought game, #TeamIndia visited Hong Kong's dressing room and met the promising cricketers, posed for pictures and shared their knowledge - by @28anand.

Full video here - https://t.co/RtbuJ5biVo pic.twitter.com/CTkOO7T90I

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 19, 2018

Chasing a stiff target of 286, Hong Kong openers Nizakat Khan and captain Anshuman Rath added 174 runs, the highest-ever for the associate nation in ODIs, eclipsing the stand of 170 the pair had put on for the fourth wicket versus Scotland in 2016.

The record opening partnership came just 48 hours after Hong Kong was bundled out for 116 against Pakistan.

Rath played a tired drive off Kuldeep Yadav straight to Rohit Sharma at covers and the floodgates finally opened as Hong Kong fell short by 26 runs.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu helped India finish at 285/7.

Dhawan's 14th ODI hundred and Rayudu's 60 placed India in a perfect position to wage a late charge a day before the much-awaited clash against Pakistan.

However, India managed to add just 48 runs for the loss of four wickets to record a sub-300 total.

Rath won the toss for the second successive occasion and preferred to put India in to bat.

His decision didn't backfire right away as Rohit Sharma failed to clear the inner ring in the eighth over.

However, for the next 22-odd overs, it was one-way traffic in favour of Dhawan and Rayudu.