Asia Cup 2025: All you need to know about the tournament structure, participating teams, and venues

The upcoming edition of the Asia Cup 2025 is scheduled to start from September 9, and the tournament opener will take place between Afghanistan and Hong Kong. BCCI are the host of the mega event, which will take place in a hybrid model, as PCB and BCCI have mutually agreed to play against each other at a neutral venue 

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) have already announced the schedule of the mega event, which will feature 19 matches. Team India will start their campaign against UAE on September 10, and the Men in Blue will take on arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14 in their second league match. 

Teams in the Asia Cup and groups

Eight teams will be participating in the tournament, which are divided into two Groups, A and B.  India, Pakistan, UAE, and Oman are part of Group A, and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong are part of Group B.

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Asia Cup 2025 qualification process

The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super Four stage. In this phase, the four teams will compete against each other in a round-robin format. The two highest-ranked teams from the Super Four will then advance to the final.

India can potentially face Pakistan three times

India and Pakistan are in the same group, which means both will potentially face each other three times, once in the league stage, next in the Super 4 round and then possibly in the final. The Asia Cup is a rehearsal for the ICC World Cup, so the tournament will take place in T20 format because of next year's Twenty20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

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Asia Cup winners

India: 8 titles (1984, 1988, 1990–91, 1995, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2023)
Sri Lanka: 6 titles (1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2022)
Pakistan: 2 titles (2000, 2012)

Asia Cup history

The Asia Cup is the only continental tournament in international cricket. It was established in 1984 and quickly made its way in the international calendar of Asian countries. The inaugural edition of the tournament was played in Sharjah, UAE, and was contested by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

India won the first edition of the tournament, setting the stage for what could become one of the most closely followed regional tournaments in cricket history, as the majority of cricketing popularity comes from Asia only. It was organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC)

Asia Cup format

Asia Cup is also known as the rehearsal for the ICC World Cup. Earlier, when T20I was not part of the World Cups, the mega event was used to played in ODI format only. After the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, ACC made amendments the tournament to match the ICC tournament cycle. For instance, the 2016 and 2022 editions were played in T20 format because they led into the T20 World Cups.