Pakistan will kick off their preparations for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 with a tri-nation T20I series against Afghanistan and the UAE, scheduled from August 29 to September 7 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan’s campaign begins against Afghanistan at 7:00 PM local time on August 29. Each team will play the others twice, and the top two sides will face off in the final on September 7.
Pakistan Squad:
Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (C), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (WK), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Afghanistan Squad:
Rashid Khan (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediq Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Ishaq, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Jannat, Sharaffuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AM Ghazanfar, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Farid Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi.
UAE Squad:
Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wk), Rohid Khan, Saghir Khan.
Notably, former captains Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been left out once again, continuing their absence from Pakistan’s T20I squad.
Both were also dropped for the T20I series against West Indies earlier this month, which Pakistan lost 2-1.
Chief Selector Aqib Javed clarified that the duo is not out of contention permanently:
“We are not saying Babar and Rizwan will never return to the T20 squad. Whoever performs will be considered. We have discussed improvements with them.”
Head-to-Head Records:
Pakistan vs Afghanistan (T20Is): 7 matches – Pakistan 4 wins, Afghanistan 3 wins.
Pakistan vs UAE (T20Is): 1 match – Pakistan 1 win, UAE 0 wins.
After the tri-series, Pakistan will participate in the Asia Cup from September 9-28, featuring eight teams. Pakistan are drawn in Group A alongside Oman, India, and the UAE.
Lowest Score at Sharjah Stadium:
The highest score at Sharjah Stadium is 216/5 by Afghanistan against Zimbabwe, while Pakistan’s highest is 193/2 against Hong Kong. The lowest score at the venue is 38 by Hong Kong versus Pakistan, and Pakistan’s lowest is 92/9 against Afghanistan.
Tri-series schedule (all matches at Sharjah Cricket Stadium):
- 29 August – Afghanistan v Pakistan – 8 pm local Pakistan time
- 30 August – UAE v Pakistan – 8 pm local Pakistan time
- 1 September – UAE v Afghanistan – 8 pm local Pakistan time
- 2 September – Pakistan v Afghanistan – 8 pm local Pakistan time
- 4 September – Pakistan v UAE – 8 pm local Pakistan time
- 5 September – Afghanistan v UAE – 8 pm local Pakistan time
- 7 September – Final – 8 pm local Pakistan time
Where to Watch:
The Tri-Series 2025, hosted at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, will be broadcast globally across various platforms. Fans can watch the live action on these platforms.
- MENA – Cricbuzz and Sportainment
- Pakistan – A-Sports, Ten Sports, and Tamasha
- Afghanistan – Lemar.tv
- Bangladesh – tapmad and TSports
- India – Fancode and Euro Sport
- North America – Willow
- United Kingdom – ARY Sports
- Africa – Supersports Rest of the World (RoW) – Sports Central
