Cricket fans in the UAE will get yet another opportunity to enjoy top-quality cricket when the Asia Cup T20 tournament begins in Dubai at the end of this month.
The tournament was supposed to be held in Sri Lanka but the political situation in the country and the logistical challenges of hosting many teams across venues posed an insurmountable challenge, forcing organisers to move the event at short-notice to the UAE.
Given that the Emirates has successfully held many editions of the Indian Premier League and also the T20 World Cup last year, it was the logical choice for a tournament of this scale.
The 2018 Asia Cup was also held in the UAE, where India beat Bangladesh off the last ball of the tournament to lift the 50-over title. However this year the Asia Cup will be a 20-over affair as teams prepare for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
The Asia Cup will kick off with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan on August 27. The final will be held in Dubai on September 11.
Hosts UAE, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong played a qualifying round with the winners of that - Hong Kong - joining India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the main draw.
As expected, the biggest match of the tournament will be the clash between India and Pakistan. It is the first time the two teams will face each other since their unforgettable clash in Dubai at the T20 World Cup last year where the men in green tasted their first win over India in a World Cup.
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Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan scored an unbeaten fifty in a 10-wicket win over India at the T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, October 24, 2021. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Pakistan' captain Babar Azam also scored an unbeaten fifty in a thumping win over India in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi rocked India's batting with the new ball on Sunday. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi celebrates the wicket of India's KL Rahul. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
India captain Virat Kohli held the innings together with a fifty. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Pakistan's Hasan Ali celebrates Ravindra Jadeja's wicket. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
India's Virat Kohli is caught behind off the bowling of Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Pakistan celebrate the wicket of India's Suryakumar Yadav. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Pakistan fans before the match at the Dubai International Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Pakistan and India fans at the Dubai International Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National
In the main tournament, six teams are divided into two groups. India, Pakistan and qualifiers Hong Kong are in Group A, while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are in Group B.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the Super 4 round, where the sides will play against each other again before the top two sides qualify for the final.
Asia Cup 2022 schedule (all matches 6pm UAE time)
Group A
August 28: India v Pakistan, Dubai
August 31: India v Hong Kong, Dubai
September 2: Pakistan v Hong Kong, Sharjah
Group B
August 27: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan, Dubai
August 30: Bangladesh v Afghanistan, Sharjah
September 1: Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Dubai
Super 4
September 3: B1 v B2, Sharjah
September 4: A1 v A2, Dubai
September 6: A1 v B1, Dubai
September 7: A2 v B2, Dubai
September 8: A1 v B2, Dubai
September 9: B1 v A2, Dubai
September 11: Final, Dubai
Tickets
Tickets for Asia Cup 2022 can be purchased on Platinumlist.net. Ticket sales began on Monday and prices start at Dh75. Fans can purchase tickets only through the website and will need to wait in an online queue.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wkt), Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Sha, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmud Ullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Taskin Ahmed.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Ashen Bandara, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwanidu Fernando, Nuwan Thusara, Dinesh Chandimal
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Najibullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shinwari. Standby: Nijat Masood, Qais Ahmed, Sharafuddin Ashraf
Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (captain), Kinchit Shah, Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Babar Hayat, Aftab Hussain, Ateeq Iqbal, Aizaz Khan, Ehsan Khan, Scott McKechnie (wk), Ghazanfar Mohammad, Yasim Murtaza, Dhananjay Rao, Wajid Shah, Ayush Shukla, Ahan Trivedi, Mohammad Waheed
