Hong Kong's Aizaz eager to play against his hero Amir

Dubai - Hong Hong will face the Champions Trophy winners Pakistan in the Asia Cup

He's the man who broke the UAE's hearts. Aizaz Khan built some serious pace to gate-crash UAE's own party. And while we are on the subject of pace, the 25-year-old will realise a dream of playing against his hero - Pakistan's left-arm pace ace Mohammad Amir when tiny little Hong Hong face the Champions Trophy winners in the Asia Cup.
Hong Kong, who will be making their third appearance in the competition after group stage exits in 2004 and 2008, meet Pakistan in their tournament opener at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
And it presents the ideal chance for Aizaz to fulfil a life-long dream.
"I follow Mohammed Amir quite a lot and it will be my first time playing against him. I am really excited. It is a great feeling to play with your hero. I never thought I would play against him," Aizaz said on the sidelines of Hong Kong's training session at the ICC Cricket Academy. Having punched their ticket for the tournament, Hong Kong have not one but two bumper fixtures with them taking on India next Tuesday.
And Aizaz and the team are chuffed to go against two of the top teams in world cricket.
"We recently qualified (for Asia Cup) and it is a great feeling. Everyone is happy and we did really well over the last two weeks to qualify. Our team is very excited for the games against India and Pakistan. They are the big teams, but we are here to compete so we are really excited," he explained.
Hong Kong may be the minnows of the competition but they dare to dream of an upset.
"We have been training hard and we have got a very balanced side, we have got some good batsmen and we have a good bowling line-up as well, so I think we will do well. We have played quite a lot in the UAE actually, so we are quite familiar with the pitches," said Aizaz.
"Everyone is really excited. They are all focused as well, so we know we are playing against some big teams so we just plan to go out there and enjoy the game. This is cricket, we are here to compete and hopefully we will do well and there might be an upset," he smiled and said.
james@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Asia Cup 2019