Afghanistan win toss, elect to bat against Hong Kong in Asia Cup opener
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan won the toss and elected to bat against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup opener at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Tuesday.
Afghanistan, coming off a defeat to Pakistan in the tri-series final earlier this week, brought Gulbadin Naib into the XI in place of Darwish Rasooli.
"It looks like a good wicket to put runs on the board, good total on the board will help the bowlers," Rashid said after the toss.
"In T20 it does not matter if you win the toss or not, but you have to give yourself the best opportunity to pick wickets in the middle period.
"It (defeat against Pakistan) is already behind us, we are well focussed on the game today, even if we had won the final we would have focussed on the game today and how to win," he added.
Teams:
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Hong Kong: Zeeshan Ali (wk), Babar Hayat, Anshy Rath, Kalhan Challu, Aizaz Khan, Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Yasim Murtaza (c), Ayush Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal, Ehsan Khan.
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Ready to face no-confidence motion, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Hassan (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the Congress government led by him was ready to face the no-confidence motion if moved by the opposition during the legislature session from December 8.
With Deputy CM D K Shivakumar by his side, he reiterated that they would both abide by the high command's decision on the leadership issue.
"Let them (opposition) bring in a no-confidence motion or adjournment motion or any other motion. We are ready to face it. Ours is an open book, transparent government. We are ready to face anything," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
However, BJP state President B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, clarified that the party, along with the JD(S) has not discussed or decided anything so far regarding moving a no-confidence motion against the government.
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The winter session of the Karnataka legislature will begin in Belagavi, bordering Maharashtra, on December 8 and will go on till 19th of this month.
Not wanting to react to a question on the leadership issue, the CM said the Congress high command is very strong.
"D K Shivakumar and I will be committed to whatever the high command decides," he said.
Earlier in the day in Bengaluru, Shivakumar accompanied AICC Mallikarjun Kharge till airport from Vidhana Soudha, after paying tributes to B R Ambedkar on his 69th death anniversary, which had led to some speculation about possible discussion between the two on the leadership issue.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculation about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
However, both the CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each others residences, on the instructions of the high command, which is seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session.
