For the first time in its history, the Asia Cup will be played in the Twenty20 format
The Asia Cup to be played in Bangladesh from February 24 is set for a makeover. After 12 editions, the tournament that sees teams from the sub-continent square off against each other will undergo a major change in the format. For the first time, the Asia Cup will not be played as a 50-over competition, but will instead be a 20-over affair.
India and Sri Lanka are the two most successful teams in the tournament having won the trophy five times each. Pakistan have been victorious on two occasions while Bangladesh’s best finish has been their runner-up performance in the 2012 edition.
All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. The qualifying rounds involving Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman will begin from Friday.
Team India will be led by MS Dhoni and the tournament will also see Virat Kohli returning to the Indian team after taking a break from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. India have played 43 matches, winning 26, losing 16 and one ending in no result.
Dhoni has captained India in 13 Asia Cup matches. Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga and Dhoni are the most successful captains in tournament with nine wins and four losses each.
A look at the squads of the participating teams.
India squad: MS Dhoni (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi.
Pakistan squad: Shahid Afridi (Captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Immad Wasim, Anwer Ali, Babar Azam, M Nawaz, M Aamir, Iftikhar Ahmed, M Irfan, Rumman Raees, Wahab Riaz, Khurram Manzoor.
Bangladesh squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Abu Hider, Nurul Hasan
Afghanistan squad: Asghar Stanikzai (Captain), Noor Ali Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Yamin Ahmadzai
Hong Kong squad: Tanwir Afzal (Captain), Aizaz Khan, Anshy Rath, Babar Hayat, Christopher Carter, Mark Chapman, Haseeb Amjad, Adil Mehmood, Nadeem Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Ninad Shah, Tanveer Ahmed, Waqas Barkat, Waqas Khan
Oman Squad: Sultan Ahmed (Captain & wicketkeeper), Aamir Kaleem (vice-captain), Aaqib Sulehri, Adnan Ilyas, Amir Ali, Munis Ansari, Bilal Khan, Jatinder Singh, Ajay Lalcheta, Mehran Khan, Rajeshkumar Ranpura, Sufyan Mehmood, Vaibhav Wategaonkar, Zeeshan Maqsood, Zeeshan Siddiqui.
UAE squad: Amjad Javed (Captain), Mohammad Kaleem, Rohan Mustafa, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammad Shahzad, Swapnil Patil (VC), Usman Mushtaq, Ahmed Raza, Zaheer Maqsood, Mohammad Naveed, Farhan Ahmed, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammad Usman, Fahad Tariq, Saqlain Haider
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