Asia Cup 2022: Hong Kong’s Ehsan Khan hopes to shine on for newborn son

Ehsan Khan

Hong Kong's 37-year-old off-spinner, Ehsan Khan is here for the Asia Cup, but his heart could well be in Hong Kong, with his wife and newborn son.

Pakistan-born Ehsan has been away from home for three months now. His wife, Kanwal Naseem was pregnant when he went to play a T20 League in Uganda.

He then travelled to Zimbabwe to play the other ICC associate teams. From Bulawayo in Zimbabwe he travelled to Jersey, United Kingdom, where he was persuaded by the team management to return to Hong Kong to be with his pregnant wife. But Ehsan wanted to be with the team. One day, he received a call from his wife, who said she had given birth to a premature baby boy. The newborn boy was kept in an incubator.

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"My wife could not see the child for a few days. No hospital discharge was possible considering the boy's health. She was upset and asked me to be with her. I returned to Hong Kong. I spent three days in quarantine and while I was on my way to the hospital to see my wife, hoping to have a glimpse of my son, I got a message from her that she had already been discharged. After I reached home, my wife insisted tI join my team in Oman, where we were playing the Asia Cup qualifying round. I hardly spent a few hours with my family and newborn son," Ehsan revealed.

The offie is in fine touch, having played a good hand in Hong Kong's victories over Singapore, Kuwait and the UAE in the build-up to the Asia Cup. "Inshallah if I perform well against India [on Wednesday], I will dedicate my wickets to my wife and son, who we have named Muhammad Hur Jamal Khan," said Ehsan.

According to Ravi Nagdev, Cricket Hong Kong's General Manager, the Hong Kong team have several players of Indian and Pakistani origin.