Asia Cup begins tonight; chance for teams to test preparedness for T20 World Cup

The unpredictability of the T20 format and the growth of the game in the region could make the 2022 Asia Cup, beginning tonight, the most closely fought edition ever.

Leaving aside the lone qualifier Hong Kong, the five other teams, including record seven-time champions India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh can beat each other on their day.

The tournament, which is being staged in the T20 format after six years, had to be moved to the UAE after hosts Sri Lanka expressed their inability to organise it back home amid the economic crisis faced by the island nation.


Though the conditions in the UAE will be different from the World Cup in Australia in OctoberNovember, all the competing sides will be looking to identify their final squad for the ICC event over the course of the next two weeks.

There is enough at stake as well for the participating teams. India will be looking to execute their aggressive approach with the bat in a high-pressure environment, starting with the opener against Pakistan on Sunday.

All eyes will be on Virat Kohli, who will be expected to come out of a prolonged lean patch. The performance of the top three including skipper Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul will be in focus while injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be missed.

Pakistan will be aiming to win the tournament they last won in 2012 when it was played in the ODI format. They’ve been pegged back by a few injury concerns with star pacer Shaheen Afridi being ruled out of the tournament.

With a relatively inexperienced middle-order, there will be over dependence on the opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.