Asia Cup 2025: India, Pakistan could face-off thrice
What's the story
India and Pakistan could meet thrice in the upcoming 2025 Asia Cup.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has tentatively scheduled the tournament for September.
As per a report in Cricbuzz, while the venue for these matches is yet to be confirmed, it could be the UAE.
The tournament will have a total of 19 games, from the second to fourth week of September.
Here are further details.
Venue shift
ACC's decision on tournament venue
The Asia Cup was originally allotted to India. However, considering the complicated ties between India and Pakistan, the ACC has opted to host it in a neutral country.
The final venue is still being discussed with Sri Lanka and the UAE in the fray.
However, despite the change, BCCI will continue to be the official host of the tournament.
Neutral ground
ACC's strategy to avoid controversy
Recently, the ACC decided that when either BCCI or PCB is due to host the tournament, it will be hosted in a neutral country.
This is to avoid any controversy regarding the Indian and Pakistani teams not wanting to travel to each other's countries.
The Indian team has been allowed to play in Dubai under a hybrid model, prompting PCB to seek a similar arrangement for next year's T20 World Cup.
Tournament details
Asia Cup's format and participating teams
The Asia Cup will be played in T20 format, with matches scheduled during cooler evening temperatures to counter potential weather issues in September.
Eight teams - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, UAE, Oman and Hong Kong - will participate.
The teams will be divided into two groups with India and Pakistan being in the same group.
The top two teams from each group will advance to Super Four stage.
Upcoming editions
Future Asia Cup tournaments and formats
Four Asia Cups are scheduled in the current cycle ending in 2031.
After the 2025 edition, the 2027 tournament will be hosted by Bangladesh in the ODI format.
The next tournament will be hosted by PCB but played in a neutral country, also in T20 format.
The last edition of this cycle, scheduled for 2031 and in ODI format, will be hosted by Sri Lanka.
Do you know?
Asia Cup: 2-1 win-loss record over PAK (T20I format)
As per ESPNcricinfo, India and Pakistan have met thrice in the Asia Cup (T20I format). The Indian team owns a win-loss record of 2-1 in these three meetings.