A blockbuster cricket season is set to be underway, with the Asia Cup commencing on August 30. The tournament is scheduled to be hosted in a hybrid format, comprising four venues across Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Six teams have been divided into two groups of three teams each. Pakistan, India, and Nepal make up Group A, while Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka complete Group B. For the opening game of the tournament, Pakistan are set to take on Nepal in Multan, while the awaited India and Pakistan clash will be played on September 2 in Kandy.

The Super 4s will comprise the top two teams from each group and will begin on September 6. The two teams occupying the top spots at the end of the Super 4s will battle it out for silverware on September 17 in Colombo.

Squads:

Group A

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve)

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling reserve)

Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish GC, Mousom Dhakal, Sundeep Jora, Kishore Mahato, Arjun Saud

Group B

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Kumer Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Naim Sheikh, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Sakib

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Suliman Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushan Hemantha, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan

Fixtures:

Group Stage

Pakistan v Nepal – 30 August, Multan, Pakistan: Pakistan won by 238 runs

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka – 31 August, Kandy, SL: Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets

Pakistan v India – 2 September, Kandy, SL: No result

Bangladesh v Afghanistan – 3 September, Lahore, Pakistan: Bangladesh won by 89 runs

India v Nepal – 4 September, Kandy, SL: India win by 10 wickets

Afghanistan v Sri Lanka – 5 September, Lahore, Pakistan: Sri Lanka won by 2 runs

 

Super 4s

Pakistan v Bangladesh – 6 September, Lahore, Pakistan: Pakistan won by 7 wickets

Sri Lanka v Bangladesh – 9 September, Colombo, SL: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs

India v Pakistan – 10 September, Colombo, SL: India won by 228 runs

Sri Lanka v India – 12 September, Colombo, SL: India won by 41 runs

Sri Lanka v Pakistan – 14 September, Colombo, SL: Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets

Bangladesh v India – 15 September, Colombo, SL: Bangladesh won by 6 runs

 

Final

17 September, Colombo, SL