DUBAI: The much anticipated match between Pakistan and India will be held in the T20I Asia Cup encounter at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday (Today).
Fresh from their tri-series win at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Pakistan started their Asia Cup campaign with an impressive 93-run win over Oman on Friday evening. In total, 16 editions of the Asia Cup have taken place, with the 2016 and 2022 editions contested in the T20I format. In the 2022 edition held in the UAE, Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in the final by 23 runs.
Among the 17-member squad for the Asia Cup, 10 players have featured in previous ACC Asia Cup events. Five players, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Nawaz, played in the T20I editions of the tournament.
All-rounder Nawaz, who was named player of the tournament in the tri-series with 120 runs and 10 wickets, is the only member of the current squad to have featured in both the 2016 and 2022 T20I editions of the Asia Cup. In this edition, eight teams have been divided into two groups, with Pakistan, India, Oman and the UAE placed in Group A, while Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka are in Group B. Pakistan’s final group fixture will be against the UAE on September 17, also in Dubai.
According to the tournament format, the top two teams from each group will progress to the Super Four stage, where all teams will face each other in a round-robin format. The top two sides at the end of the Super Four will qualify for the final, which will take place at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on September 28.
Since Mike Hesson took over as head coach, Pakistan have played 14 T20Is, winning 10 of them. These victories include bilateral series wins against Bangladesh (May, 3-0) and the West Indies (July/August, 2-1), as well as the tri-series triumph in Sharjah, where they beat Afghanistan by 75 runs in the final on 7 September.
ALSO READ: Asia Cup 2025: Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by six wickets
The 17-member squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufyan Moqeem.
