The 2025 Asia Cup, which was originally scheduled to be held in India, will also return to the 20-over format keeping in mind next year’s T20 World Cup. India had won the last edition of the continental event in 2023 while Sri Lanka are the defending champions in the shorter of the two white-ball formats.
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Sunday’s blockbuster meeting
between India and Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy won’t be the last time the two arch-rivals meet in 2025 as they could be facing each other up to three times in the Asia Cup later this year. According to Cricbuzz, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has tentatively scheduled the Asia Cup for September with United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Sri Lanka likely to host the event that returns to the 20-over format this year.
The 2025 Asia Cup was originally scheduled to be hosted by defending champions India. The tournament, however, has had to be moved out after the BCCI and the PCB recently came to an agreement that
all future India-Pakistan contests would take place at neutral venues.
BCCI to remain ‘hosts’ despite Asia Cup taking place at neutral venue
This was after the BCCI refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, forcing the Mohsin Naqvi-led PCB to accept a ‘Hybrid Model’ for the ninth edition of the ‘Mini World Cup.
The BCCI, however, will remain designated hosts for the event, just like Sri Lanka were in the 2022 edition that had to be moved to the UAE due to political unrest in the island nation.
Sri Lanka had hosted a majority of games the last time the Asia Cup had taken place – in 2023 in the ODI format. Pakistan had been awarded hosting rights for the tournament, but only a handful of matches took place in their backyard as the BCCI had also refused to send Rohit Sharma and company to their neighbouring country back then as well.
India would go on to thrash Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final in Colombo after bowling them out for a paltry 50, winning the ODI version of the continental event for a record-extending seventh consecutive time.
The Lankans, however, are the defending champions in the T20 format,
having defeated Pakistan in the final in 2022 to win their first major title in eight years.
Nepal not among eight teams in action
A notable absentee from this year’s Asia Cup lineup is Nepal after their failure to qualify. The Himalayan nation had made their debut in the continental event in 2023, in which they had been placed in the same group as India and Pakistan.
Besides defending champions India and former winners Sri Lanka and Pakistan, this year’s lineup includes two-time runners-up Bangladesh as well as Afghanistan, UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong. The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four, with India and Pakistan likely to be placed in the same group once again.
The top two teams from each group will then progress to the Super Four stage where matches will be played in the round-robin format. The two teams that finish at the top of the Super Four standings will then face off in the final.