Asia Cup is all set to begin tomorrow with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan in the opening fixture at the Dubai Cricket Stadium. This will be the second time the Asia Cup will be played in the T20 format.

The UAE is hosting the T20 version of the tournament for the first time. Bangladesh hosted the first T20 iteration of the Asia Cup in 2016.

India will be heading into the tournament as the defending champions, having won the T20 version in 2016 as well as the last Asia Cup, held in the ODI format, in UAE in 2018.

In the most anticipated clash of the tournament, Pakistan will face arch-rivals India in Dubai on August 28.

They will next face minnows Hong Kong in Sharjah on September 2. India is the other side in Group A.

Group B comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

After the group matches, the top two sides from each group will qualify for the next stage. The Super Four matches will be played from September 3-9.

Leading from the front

Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam, the top batter in both versions of limited-overs cricket, led the team to the semi-finals of the last T20 World Cup, in which they also defeated India at the tournament for the first time. Wicketkeeper-batter Muhammad Rizwan is on an equally imperious run of form, having scored two centuries and five half centuries in the last one year.

The two had combined in an effective partnership as Pakistan coasted to a 10-wicket win against India at last year’s World T20 match. Both scored half centuries to break Pakistan’s hoodoo against their nemesis at the ICC T20 event.

In that match, pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi was the standout performer with the ball, with the left-armers wickets of India’s top order batters Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul etched in every fan’s memory.

Pakistan have some injury concerns going into the tournament, none more so than that of their pace spearhead. Shaheen Afridi has been ruled out of the tournament and has been replaced by rookie pacer Muhammad Hasnain in the squad. Hasnain will be making his first appearance after having remodeled his bowling action after it was reported earlier this year.