Sports Desk: Today, Wednesday, the curtain rises on the Asia Cup. This year’s event is being held in a ‘hybrid model’. Over India’s objections, several matches have been moved from the original host, Pakistan. Pakistan will host 4 matches, and Sri Lanka will host 9 matches. All the games of the 13-match tournament will start at 3:30 p.m. Bangladesh time.
Six countries, including Bangladesh, are making last-minute preparations to participate in this event. World Cup and Asia Cup—both tournaments will be in ODIs. Bangladesh is far behind compared to India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The Tigers failed to win the title after appearing in three finals. Bangladesh reached the final of the Asia Cup last year in ODI format.
The Tigers eventually lost the match against India by three wickets. India, Pakistan, and Nepal are in Group A of this year’s Asia Cup. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan are in Group B. Except for Nepal, which participated in the Asia Cup for the first time, the remaining five teams will play in the World Cup. In that context, all the teams have taken the current Asia Cup as preparation for the World Cup.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Lokesh Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.
Nepal Squad: Rohit Kumar Paudel (captain), Mohammad Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharkey, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Ire, Sandeep Lamichane, Karan LC, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Arif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Pratish GC, Kishore Mahato, Sundeep Zora, Arjun Saud, and Shyam Dhakal.
Bangladesh Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Liton Kumar Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hriday, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrub, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mostafizur Rahman, Shariful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Sheikh Mahadi Hasan, Naeem Sheikh, Shamim Hosssain Patwari, Tanjid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Shakib
Afghanistan Squad: Hashmatullah Shahid (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hasan, Rahmat Shah, Nayli Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujib ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Sharifuddin Ashraf, Fazal Haque Faruqi, Abdur Rahman, S. Safi
Sri Lanka Squad: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nishanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kushal Perera, Kushal Mendis, Charith Ashalanka, Sadira Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemant, Dunith Wellalage, Mahesh Thiksana, Pramod Madushan, Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando, and Mathisha Pathirana
Pakistan Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Fahim Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Taib Tahir (traveling reserve).
