 "India have been the standout T20 team in the last two years, having won 28 out of 31 matches since the start of 2024 and lifted the T20 World Cup along the way. Reuters")
The 17th edition of the Men’s Asia Cup gets underway in the UAE on Tuesday, 9 September with Afghanistan facing Hong Kong in the tournament opener in Abu Dhabi. The spotlight, however, will be on India, which is the standout white-ball team in the world at present and has been on a roll in the shortest format since the start of 2024, winning the T20 World Cup along the way.
Men in Blue strong favourites once again
India, who begin their campaign against hosts UAE in Dubai a day after the Afghanistan-Hong Kong clash, have encountered hiccups in Tests and ODIs in the last two years, especially in the red-ball game. However, when it comes to 20-over cricket, India have been the dominant force all the way, winning 28 out of 31 matches since the start of last year – including a couple of Super Over wins.
What has also helped India dominate T20s during this period is the smooth transition in leadership from Rohit Sharma, who led India to their first ICC title in over a decade last year, to Suryakumar Yadav. SKY has taken to leadership like a duck to water, and has enjoyed tremendous success since he began his tenure with a clean sweep in Sri Lanka.
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The Asia Cup, however, will be the first time the Mumbai Indians batter leads India in a multi-nation event, and will be an ideal gauge to test his captaincy, especially when it comes to crunch situations such as knockout matches.
The Men in Blue had won the previous edition of the Asia Cup, which took place in the ODI format in Pakistan and Sri Lanka two years ago, in clinical fashion – remaining unbeaten throughout the course of the tournament and bundling the Lankans out for just 50 in the final.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsCount Pakistan, Sri Lanka out at your own peril
India, however, will be wary of the unpredictability of the teams they will be competing against over the course of the next three weeks, as well as of the format they will be playing in. They had, after all, failed to reach the final the last time the continental tournament took place in the T20 format.
UAE had also served as the host nation in 2022, shortly before the T20 World Cup later that year, and after entering the tournament as favourites and topping the group stage, India failed to reach the final after losing against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super Fours.
The Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lanka would then go on to defeat Pakistan in the final to win their first, and till date the only, major trophy since the 2014 T20 World Cup. And it is that triumph that the Lankan Lions will be seeking inspiration from when the current team led by Matheesha Pathirana begins their title defence against Bangladesh on Saturday.
Pakistan, twice champions in the ODI format and eyeing their maiden T20 title this year, haven’t had a great run of late, particularly after suffering their first ODI series loss against the West Indies in over three decades last month. However, the Men in Green appear a lot more confident and cohesive a team under Salman Agha’s leadership in T20Is than they do under other leaders in five-day and 50-over cricket.
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Similarly, one cannot rule out the potential of Afghanistan or Bangladesh becoming first time champions this year. While the Bangla Tigers have been runners-up thrice before, most recently in the ODI format in 2018, the Afghans have been punching above their weight in recent ICC events, particularly in the 2023 ODI World Cup and last year’s T20 World Cup – where they made it to the semi-finals ahead of a team like Australia.
Everything else you need to know about the 2025 Asia Cup
How many teams are participating in the 2025 Asia Cup?
A total of eight teams are participating in this year’s tournament. Defending champions Sri Lanka as well as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are the Full Members participating in the tournament while UAE, Hong Kong and Oman are the Associate Nations.
Click here for the full squads of all eight teams participating in the 2025 Asia CupWhat is the format of this year’s Asia Cup?
Eight teams are divided into two groups of four teams each, with each side playing the remaining three teams in their group once. The top two teams from each group then advance to the Super Four stage, where each side plays each of the remaining three teams once on a round-robin basis, just like in the group stage.
The top two teams on the Super Four then compete in the final for the title. The tournament will be taking place in the T20 format this year.
What is the full schedule of the 2025 Asia Cup?
September 9 — Afghanistan vs Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi, 8 pm
September 10 — India vs UAE in Dubai, 8 pm
September 11 — Bangladesh vs Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi, 8 pm
September 12 — Pakistan vs Oman in Dubai, 8 pm
September 13 — Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, 8 pm
September 14 — India vs Pakistan in Dubai, 8 pm
September 15 — UAE vs Oman in Abu Dhabi, 5.30 pm
September 15 — Sri Lanka vs Hong Kong in Dubai, 8 pm
September 16 — Bangladesh vs Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, 8 pm
September 17 — Pakistan vs UAE in Dubai, 8 pm
September 18 — Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, 8 pm
September 19 — India vs Oman in Abu Dhabi, 8 pm
September 20 — Group B Qualifier 1 vs Group B Qualifier 2 in Dubai, 8 pm
September 21 — Group A Qualifier 1 vs Group A Qualifier 2 in Dubai, 8 pm
September 23 — Group A Qualifier 1 vs Group B Qualifier 2 in Abu Dhabi, 8 pm
September 24 — Group B Qualifier 1 vs Group A Qualifier 2 in Dubai, 8 pm
September 25 — Group A Qualifier 2 vs Group B Qualifier 2 in Dubai, 8 pm
September 26 — Group A Qualifier 1 vs Group B Qualifier 1 in Dubai, 8 pm
September 28 — Final in Dubai, 8 pm
Where can I watch the 2025 Asia Cup LIVE in India?
The 2025 Asia Cup will be telecast on the Sony Sports Network on cable television and DTH services. The tournament will also be streamed live on the SonyLIV website and mobile application.
Asia Cup 2025 squads for all teams
Afghanistan
Rashid Khan (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Bangladesh
Litton Das (captain, wicketkeeper), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin.
Hong Kong
Yasim Murtaza (captain), Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali (wicketkeeper), Nizakat Khan Mohammad, Nasrulla Rana, Martin Coetzee, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Marc Challu, Ayush Ashish Shukla, Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Ateeq ul Rehman Iqbal, Kinchit Shah (wicketkeeper), Adil Mehmood, Haroon Arshad Mohammad, Ali Hassan, Shahid Wasif (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Ghazanfar, Mohammad Waheed, Anas Khan, Ehsan Khan.
India
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper).
Oman
Jatinder Singh (captain), Hammad Mirza (wicketkeeper), Vinayak Shukla (wicketkeeper), Sufyan Yousuf, Ashish Odedara, Aamir Kaleem, Mohammed Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood, Aryan Bisht, Karan Sonavale, Zikriya Islam, Hassnain Shah, Faisal Shah, Muhammed Imran, Nadeem Khan, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava.
Pakistan
Salman Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Sri Lanka
Charith Asalanka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper), Kusal Perera (wicketkeeper), Nuwanidu Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana.
United Arab Emirates
Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wicketkeeper), Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh and Saghir Khan.