Asia Cup 2025 squads: India begin title defence without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Pakistan leave out Babar and Rizwan
Bold calls made as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh leave out stalwarts
Eight proud cricketing nations are set to collide in one of the most highly anticipated T20I competitions of the year - the 2025 Asia Cup!
The first toss will go up at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, September 9, with Afghanistan taking on Hong Kong in Group B. India will begin their title defence on Wednesday against the host nation, the United Arab Emirates.
All of the best betting sites in India have the Men in Blue installed as the clear favourites to win the 2025 Asia Cup, though they will have to do so under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav and without a few of their regular stalwarts - Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being the headline omissions.
Other notable player exclusions for the tournament include Pakistan leaving out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Sri Lanka will be without Angelo Mathews, and Bangladesh have omitted Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav - Captain
Squad: Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
UAE Squad: Muhammad Waseem - Captain
Squad: Muhammad Waseem, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Kha, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra, Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Saghir Khan
Oman Squad: Jatinder Singh - Captain
Squad: Jatinder Singh, Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla, Sufyan Yousuf, Ashish Odedera, Aamir Kaleem, Mohammad Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood, Aryan Bisht, Karan Sonavale, Zikriya Islam, Hassnain Ali Shah, Faisal Shah, Mohammad Imran, Nadeem Khan, Shakeel Ahmad, Samay Shrivastava
Afghanistan Squad: Rashid Khan - Captain
Squad: Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Pakistan Squad: Salman Agha - Captain
Squad: Salman Agha, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
Bangladesh Squad: Litton Das - Captain
Squad: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Pavez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin
Sri Lanka Squad: Charith Asalanka - Captain
Squad: Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Nuwanidu Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana
Hong Kong Squad: Yasim Murtaza - Captain
Squad: Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali, Shahid Wasif, Niazakat Khan Mohammad, Nasrulla Rana, Martin Coetzee, Anshuman Rath, Ehsan Khan, Kalhan Marc Challu, Ayush Ashish Shukla, Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Ateeq Ul Rehman Iqbal, Kinchit Shah, Adil Mehmood, Anas Khan, Haroon Mohammad Arshad, Ali Hassan, Ghazanfar Mohammad, Mohammad Waheed
