17th Men’s Asia Cup Cricket to Start on 9 Sept 2025 in UAE

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, announced the schedule of the 17th Men’s Asia Cup Cricket Cup 2025 on 26 July 2025. 

The Tournament will start on 9 September and the final will be held on 28 September 2025.

The Tournament will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), although India was originally scheduled to host the tournament.

Under a deal brokered by the International Cricket Council (ICC), India and Pakistan will play at a neutral venue till 2027.

17th Asia Cup Format and Teams 

The Asia Cup was initially held in one-day international (ODI) format with 50 overs a side. In 2015, the ACC announced that, starting from 2016, the Asia Cup would be played in either the ODI or T20 format, depending on the upcoming ICC tournament. 

The upcoming ICC tournament is the 10th ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February and March 2026.

Thus, the 17th Men’s Asia Cup will be held in T20 format.

India is the defending champion, having won the 16th edition of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup, played in ODI format.

Teams 

Eight teams - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Oman, China, and the host, the United Arab Emirates. 

They have been divided into two groups.

• Group A - UAE, India, Oman and Pakistan 
• Group B- Bangladesh, China, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for a group of four.

The top two teams of the group of four will qualify for the final to be played in Dubai on 28 September 2025.

History of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 

The Men’s Asia Cup is organised by the ACC and was first held in 1984 in Sharjah, UAE, where India won, beating Sri Lanka in the final.

Most successful team - India with eight title wins (seven ODI and one T20).

Sri Lanka is the second most successful side with six titles.

The following is a list of the Asia Cup tournaments held so far, along with their host countries and winners.

Asian Cricket Council (ACC)

Founded as the Asian Cricket Conference in New Delhi on the 19th of September 1983.  Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka were the founding members of ACC.

Renamed to the Asian Cricket Council in 1993.

It is the sports governing body in Asia and is affiliated with the International Cricket Council (ICC)

Members -27 countries cricket boards

President- Mohsin Naqvi

Headquarters: Dubai, UAE