Ateeq Iqbal achieved a big milestone during Hong Kong’s clash against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2025. Iqbal joined the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Amir after picking up the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran in the fourth over.
Hong Kong fast-bowler Ateeq Iqbal achieved a major milestone and joined the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Amir and Shahnawaz Dahani in a rare record list during his team’s Asia Cup opener against Afghanistan on Tuesday, September 9
Afghanistan opted to bat first in the opener at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, with Rashid Khan feeling ‘it looks like a good wicket to put runs on the board, a good total on the board will help the bowlers’.ย
While they got off to a fine start with 12 runs from the first over, Ayush Shukla struck in the third over, removing Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Meanwhile, Ateeq Iqbal doubled the joy for his team when he dismissed Ibrahim Zadran in the fourth over and delivered a maiden one.ย
Meanwhile, Iqbal has become just the fourth bowler to bowl a maiden wicket over in powerplay in the Asia Cup. He is first from his Hong Kong team and joins the likes of Kumar, Amir and Dahani on the rare list.
Bowlers to bowl maiden wicket overs in powerplay in T20 Asia Cup:
Mohammad Amir (PAK) vs UAE, Mirpur, 2016
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (IND) vs UAE, Mirpur, 2016
Shahnawaz Dahani (PAK) vs HK, Sharjah, 2022
Ateeq Iqbal (HK) vs AFG, Abu Dhabi, 2025
Hong Kong are looking for their first win in the history of the Asia Cup. They have been part of the tournament since 2004 but have not won a single game.
Coming to the match, Afghanistan opted to bat first. “We would like to bat first. It looks like a good wicket to put runs on the board good total on the board will help the bowlers,” Rashid said at 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 (tri-series final) is already behind us, we are well focused on the game today, even if we had won the final we would have focused on the game today and how to win. Just one change from the final – Darwish misses out and Gulbadin is back,” he added.
“We wanted to bowl first. I am happy to bowl. We worked hard to get here. We played good cricket in the qualifiers. As a captain I am looking forward to see how Kalhan Challu will do on the big stage,” Hong Kong skipper Yasim Murtaza said.