Asia Cup 2025: Eight teams will be fighting to prove continental supremacy at the Asia Cup starting September 9. The games will be played in the United Aram Emirates (UAE), and will feature India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE, Oman and Hong Kong.
Five of these – India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh are known to all and would definitely be watched keenly throughout the tournament. On the other hand, the less popular three teams – UAE, Oman and Hong Kong – do have a big opportunity to prove their might for future international cricket games.
The Asia Cup is Oman’s debut at the mega event, where Hong Kong and UAE are here for their fifth and fourth appearance respectively.
2 Groups with 4 teams each
The tournament will initially be played at group stage with eight teams divided in two groups – each of four. Group A consists of India, Pakistan, Oman and the UAE.
Whereas Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Hong Kong form Group B. A total of 12 matches will be played in the group stage, after which the teams with more points or net run rate will be moved to Super 4. Two teams from each group will qualify for the Super four stage.
Oman, Hong Kong, UAE: About the lesser known teams
Asia cup qualification
Oman made it to the Asia Cup after it finished the at the ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2024 as runner-up. They previously played in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 2023/24-2027.
Hong Kong confirmed its Asia Cup berth after it won the third-place playoff against Nepal in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2024. Though they lost against Malaysia in the Asia Pacific Cricket Champions Trophy 2025, the previous victory was enough to lead them to the tournament.
UAE on the other hand won the ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2024 by defeating Oman by 55 runs in the final. This win made them eligible for the Asia Cup participation.
Top players of the teams
Oman
Jatinder Singh: He was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, in 1989, and made his T20 International debut for Oman in 2015. Singh, 35, will be leading Oman in the upcoming event. He has a total score of 1399 runs from 64 innings at an average of 24.54 with eight fifties, a report stated.
Hong Kong
Ayush Shukla: 22-year-old Ayush is a right-arm seamer. He has played 52 T20Is and took 47 wickets at an average 25.44 and an economy of 7.60.
Yasim Murtaza: The new Hong Kong skipper is a spin all-rounder. Murtaza has so far scored 746 runs and scalped 70 wickets in 63 T20Is.
UAE
Muhammad Waseem: UAE’s Muhammad Waseem has a tremendous record in T20Is. He has so far played 82 innings in which he scored 2922 runs at an average of 37.94. He has made three hundreds and 23 fifties.
Haider Ali: The other key player of the UAE is Haider Ali, a left-arm spinner. Ali recently finished as the highest wicket-taker in UAE-Afghanistan-Pakistan tri series. He took six wickets from four innings at an average of 16.66 and an economy of 6.25.
Full squad of three teams
Oman: Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla, Sufyan Yousuf, Ashish Odedera, Aamir Kaleem, Mohammed Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood, Aryan Bisht, Karan Sonavale, Zikriya Islam, Hassnain Ali Shah, Faisal Shah, Muhammed Imran, Nadeem Khan, Shakeel Ahmad, Samay Shrivastava.
United Arab Emirates: Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra, Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Saghir Khan.
Hong Kong: Yasim Murtaza (c), Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali, Niazakat Khan Mohammad, Nasrulla Rana, Martin Coetzee, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Marc Challu, Ayush Shukla, Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Ateeq ul Rehman Iqbal, Kinchit Shah, Ali Hassan, Shahid Wasif, Ghazanfar Mohammad, Mohammad Waheed, Ehsan Khan