Asia Cup 2025 preview: India favourites as battle for continental supremacy begins

The battle for Asian supremacy is about to intensify as the Asia Cup 2025 is set to begin on Tuesday, September 9. The 17^th edition of the continental tournament will be contested in the T20 format, given its proximity to the T20 World Cup 2026.

After months of uncertainty over the tournament, 8 teams will come together to play in a battle of Asian Supremacy. The 20-day-long tournament was put in a limbo in the aftermath of India and Pakistan's cross-border tensions. However, despite the calls of boycotting the tournament, the Indian government allowed the cricket team to play in the continental tournament, keeping the broader picture in mind.

The Asia Cup will start with Afghanistan and Hong Kong taking on each other at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. A total of eight teams will compete against each other for the Asian crown, divided into two groups. The Group A comprises of Oman, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and India.

Catch all details of Asia Cup 2025: Here

On the other hand, Group B comprises of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. After the initial group stage, where each team will face each other once, the top two teams from each group will further progress to Super 4 stage, where they will again take on each other once.

In the end, the team finishing in the top two of the Super 4 stages will make it to the final, which is set to be played on Sunday, September 28 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

India will aim to defend their title as the defending champions, having won the previous edition of the tournament in 2023. The Men in Blue are the most successful team in the history of continental event, having eight titles to their name. On the other hand, Sri Lanka are the second most successful team, having won the trophy six times, while Pakistan have two titles to their name.

While the previous winners will be the front-runners to be crowned champions again, the remaining teams can’t be taken lightly, given the unpredictable nature of T20 cricket.

What to expect from each team?

India – The Men in Blue once again enter as favourites to lift the title, being the most successful T20I team, among full member nations, since their T20 World Cup triumph in 2024. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side will be the team to beat in the upcoming tournament as they possess a formidable squad, having all their bases covered.

Sri Lanka – The Lankan Lions have struggled massively in the shortest format in recent times, as they’ve been able to win series against West Indies and Zimbabwe in recent times. However, the Charith Asalnka-led side have enough arsenal in their spin department to trouble top teams, along with some good hitters.

Pakistan - The Men in Green are under transition after they let go of batting stalwarts Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20I setup. Under the leadership of Salman Agha, Pakistan are eyeing to re-establish themselves as a formidable T20I side. They’ve won against Bangladesh and West Indies recently, and their tri-series win over Afghanistan and UAE further raised their stocks heading into the tournament.

Bangladesh – The Bangla Tigers are also carrying good form heading into the tournament, having won their last three series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Netherlands. The Litton Das-led side is known to give jitters to top sides and will aim to spoil everyone’s party in search of their maiden Asian crown.

Afghanistan – The story of Afghanistan cricket has gone from strength to strength in the past few years, given their stellar performances in the ICC events. After reaching the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024, Afghanistan proved that they’re not just here to compete but have a real shot at winning major trophies. The Asia Cup 2025 could well turn out to be the watershed moment for Afghan cricket as they will be again expected to punch above their weight time and again.

UAE - UAE earned their spot in the continental tournament after emerging victorious in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2024 by beating Oman by 55 runs in the final. They had their moments in the recent tri-series against Pakistan and Afghanistan despite losing all four matches. Captain Muhammad Waseem will have the burden of leading his team against the likes of India and Pakistan in Group A.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong sealed their spot in the Asia Cup after winning the third-place playoff against Nepal in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2024. They’re coming into the tournament after finishing as runners-up in the Asia Pacific Cricket Champions Trophy. The Yasim Murtaza-led side has been placed in Group B alongside Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

Oman - A runner-up finish at the ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2024 sealed Oman’s spot in the Asia Cup 2025. Their last T20I assignment was against the USA in February 2025, which they lost by 0-3. Led by Jatinder Singh, they’re placed in Group A alongside India, Pakistan, and the UAE.

Asia Cup 2025: Points Table

Asia Cup 2025 Squads

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

Pakistan: Salman Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Mohammad Wasim Jr

Bangladesh: Litton Das (c), Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed , Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin

Sri Lanka: Charith Asalanka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Nuwanidu Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Ishaq, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Gulbadin Naib

Oman: Jatinder Singh (capt), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla, 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.

UAE: Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D'Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wk), Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh and Saghir Khan

Hong Kong: Yasim Murtaza (capt), Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali, Niazakat Khan, Nasrulla Rana, Martin Coetzee, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Challu, Ayush Shukla, Aizaz Khan, Ateeq Iqbal, Kinchit Shah, Ali Hassan, Shahid Wasif, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Mohammad Waheed, Ehsan Khan

How to buy Asia Cup tickets?

The Asia Cup tickets can be bought at the physical kiosks across the UAE or at the Asian Cricket website. There are multi-match ticket plans and tickets for individual games available on the website.

Asia Cup 2025 schedule:

Group Stage

• 9 September (Tuesday): Afghanistan vs Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi

• 10 September (Wednesday): India vs UAE, Dubai

• 11 September (Thursday): Bangladesh vs Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi

• 12 September (Friday): Pakistan vs Oman, Dubai

• 13 September (Saturday): Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi

• 14 September (Sunday): India vs Pakistan, Dubai

• 15 September (Monday): UAE vs Oman, Abu Dhabi

• 15 September (Monday): Sri Lanka vs Hong Kong, Dubai

• 16 September (Tuesday): Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Dubai

• 17 September (Wednesday): Pakistan vs UAE, Abu Dhabi

• 18 September (Thursday): Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Dubai

• 19 September (Friday): India vs Oman, Abu Dhabi

• Super 4

• 20 September (Saturday): Group B Qualifier 1 vs Group B Qualifier 2, Dubai

• 21 September (Sunday): Group A Qualifier 1 vs Group A Qualifier 2, Dubai

• 22 September (Monday): Rest Day

• 23 September (Tuesday): Group A Qualifier 1 vs Group B Qualifier 2, Abu Dhabi

• 24 September (Wednesday): Group B Qualifier 1 vs Group A Qualifier 2, Dubai

• 25 September (Thursday): Group A Qualifier 2 vs Group B Qualifier 2, Dubai

• 26 September (Friday): Group A Qualifier 1 vs Group B Qualifier, Dubai

• 27 September (Saturday): Break Day

  Final

• 28 September (Sunday): Final, Dubai