Pakistan, Afghanistan to Prepare for Asia Cup 2025 with Tri-series

Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, starting on September 9, Pakistan, UAE, and Afghanistan will play a Tri-series in the UAE. This series will help them prepare for the upcoming series, which will be hosted by the UAE. The Tri-series is set to start on August 29, giving a stage for the players to prepare for the upcoming Asia Cup, which will begin two days after the conclusion of this series.

For teams like Afghanistan and UAE, which play fewer cricket matches in a year, this series is extremely important. Moreover, the exposure that they will get will be beneficial as well. The UAE has inexperienced players in the team, and their matches against Pakistan and Afghanistan will surely help them build a good core of players.

When it comes to Afghanistan, they are no longer considered minnows or the underdogs because of the way they have improved their quality of cricket in recent years. Afghanistan have caused cricket many upsets in the ICC tournaments, and most likely they'll be eyeing the Asia Cup 2025 this year.

UAE T20I Tri Series 2025 Schedule

The UAE T20I Tri series 2025 schedule is quite interesting. A total of seven matches will be played between the three teams in a short span of time. The first match will be played between the arch-rivals Afghanistan and Pakistan at Sharjah. The format of the tournament is quite simple. All the three teams will face each other twice in the league stage, and the top two teams will qualify for the final.

Since the matches are in the UAE, the teams are quite acquainted with the stadiums, and hence, it will be interesting to see how they perform against each other in the matches. Pakistan, the team with the most experience, will be looking forward to using the stage to practice for the Asia Cup. The Asia Cup 2025 schedule is already out but here are the dates for this tri-series.

UAE T20I Tri Series 2025 Venue

All the matches of the UAE Tri-series have been scheduled at the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The decision to host the tournament only in Sharjah has been taken because the other venues, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, are likely to host the Asia Cup, which will be played just after this series.

Another reason could be the travel. Travelling from one place to another for a short series doesn't make sense, and hence, the venue was selected in such a way that the players will get a chance to relax and prepare for the next game on their rest days.

UAE T20I Tri Series 2025 Teams

Since it's a Tri-series, three teams, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the UAE, will face each other. The contests are likely to be interesting since Pakistan and Afghanistan have already faced each other at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium five times in T20Is, with the Men in Green winning three of them.

Pakistan are in a rebuilding phase and recently lost a T20I series in Bangladesh. They have a young team, which will be eager to perform and get used to the conditions before the Asia Cup.

It's been a long time since Afghanistan played in the T20Is, having last played back in December. For them, the series might be tough because of the lack of match practice, however, they have seasoned T20 players in their ranks. Their skipper, Rashid Khan, is amongst the best bowlers in the world right now. Another key player for them will be Azmatullah Omarzai, who is among the best all-rounders in the world at the moment.

Moreover, the UAE played a series against Bangladesh in May 2025 and clinched a historic win. They have been constantly improving and cannot be taken lightly. It won't be a surprise if the UAE causes a surprise in this tri-series or the upcoming Asia Cup.

UAE T20I Tri Series Squads

In preparation for the Asia Cup 2025, set to begin on September 9, Pakistan, the UAE, and Afghanistan are set to compete in a Tri-Nation series hosted in the UAE. This tournament will serve as a key warm-up opportunity for all three teams. The UAE T20I Tri-series squads have been announced, and they are as follows:

UAE Squad

Muhammad Waseem (c), Asif Khan, Rahul Chopra (wk), Ethan D'Souza, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Farooq, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Rohid, Muhammad Zohaib, Saghir Khan.

Pakistan Squad

Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.

Afghanistan Squad

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