Star Cricketer to Lead His Country as Afghanistan Announce Asia Cup 2025 Squad

In just a few weeks, the Asia Cup 2025 will start in the T20 format, with all eight teams from Asia competing for the title in the UAE. This time, the Asia Cup is in T20 format because of the next ICC World Cup, which is in T20 format and is going to take place in India and Sri Lanka. All eight teams are divided into two groups.

One of the best teams in the world, India, will play Oman, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates in Group A. Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong are all part of Group B. The Asia Cup 2025 final will be held in Dubai on September 28. Only one of the eight teams has the chance to win the title and emerge as Asia's top team.

In the meantime, the Asia Cup squads of Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, and Pakistan have been revealed, and preparations have begun. The Afghanistan squad for Asia Cup 2025 was revealed on Sunday. The 17-man Afghanistan Asia Cup squad has been made public for Asia Cup, which kicks off on September 9, 2025.

Rashid Khan Set To lead Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2025

Afghanistan, captained by one of the best bowlers in the world at the current time, Rashid Khan, will play Hong Kong in the tournament's first match in Abu Dhabi. Afghanistan will also play a tri-series against Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates before the Asia Cup to be ready for the eight-nation competition. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had revealed a preliminary team of 22 players earlier on August 5. Rashid Khan was selected by the ACB to be the Asia Cup captain. When Afghanistan last played a Twenty20 International in December 2024, he was captaining the team. While his deputy will be Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Meanwhile, the bowling attack also looks strong, with Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman will help to take wickets. While Mohammad Nabi and Azmantullah Omarzai will also look to give the batting good depth. Both all-rounders are known for their hard-hitting batting style, and the team will need them to step up in big matches.

For the first time since December 2024, Naveen-Ul-Haq, who retired from ODI cricket, is back in the Afghanistan Asia Cup squad. Ahead of the Asia Cup, Afghanistan will play a tri-series against Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. The tri-series will start from August 29 to 7 September. Just after a two-day break, Afghanistan will play its first game. The majority of the players who were already picked in the preliminary squad will also participate in the tri-series.

Afghanistan squad for Asia Cup 2025

Currently, Afghanistan is the second-best team in Asia after India. During the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, they made it to the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies last year, marking the first time they had advanced to the last four of an ICC competition in the shortest format. In fact, the Rashid-led team enjoyed an incredible run that saw them overcome Australia and New Zealand for the first time in any format.
As the preparations begin for the Asia Cup with a good team, Rashid Khan will aim to take Afghanistan deep into the tournament. Afghanistan's current goal is to advance in the Asia Cup 2025 and make history by winning the competition. The team's performance in the competition will be greatly aided by the spin unit, which is captained by Rashid.

Rashid Khan (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Allah Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Farid Malik, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.