Pathetic performance from Hong Kong yesterday. I personally believe that Nepal deserved a chance to be in the tournament. On the other hand, we have three associate teams, who don't have a single citizen in their squad (Hong Kong, Oman and the United Arab Emirates). The initiative from the ACC is good. They have expanded the Asia Cup from 6 to 8 teams. But it is of no use, if teams who import players from India and Pakistan eat up these slots. Teams with native players, such as Nepal and Malaysia are losing out.
Non-popular countries have filled their squads with migrated players, which has prevented them from making much progress in cricket. The United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong have qualified for the Asia Cup, which has led to Nepal and Malaysia, which are made up of native players, being eliminated from the Asia Cup. However, if the group had been made up of 10 teams, then perhaps Malaysia and Nepal would have made it. Of course, Nepal would have performed better than Hong Kong and had a team, the Asia Cup would have been more diverse.
Yes, these teams have admitted immigrant players, but there is no sign of improvement, especially in this Asia Cup. Hong Kong was humiliatingly defeated in the Asia Cup, and today, the United Arab Emirates made a shocking score against India but before that, we saw that this team led exceptionally well in a series against Bangladesh. It may be true that these two teams have not been able to improve by admitting immigrant players, but the England team has immigrant players such as Jofra Archer, he has been leading the charge for the team as they have recently recorded a record-breaking win over the Proteas. So if these two teams could have coordinated well with these players, then maybe they could have faced India with ease in this Asia Cup.