Dhaka – The 14th edition of the six-nation Asia Cup will begin on September 15 with Bangladesh taking on Sri Lanka in the tournament opener at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, UAE.The six best teams of the Asia subcontinent have already announced their squads to start their campaign — split in two groups — in the 13-match tournament, which will end on September 28.
The two-times finalists Bangladesh have been placed in Group ‘B’ alongside Sri Lanka and Afghanistan for the group campaign while Group ‘A’ comprises of defending champions India, Pakistan and the winner of the Asia Cup Qualifier 2018 Hong Kong.
The tournament will run for almost two weeks and the top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super-Four stage.
Here are the squads for Asia Cup 2018:
Afghanistan Squad: Asghar Afghan (captain), Mohammad Shahzad, Ihsanullah Janat, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam, Samiullah Shenwari, Munir Ahmad, Sayed Shirzad, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Yamin Ahmadzai.
Bangladesh Squad: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mominul Haque, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Kumar Das, Ariful Haque, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nazmul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Hider Rony and Nazmul Hossain Shanto.
Hong Kong Squad: Anshuman Rath (captain), Aizaz Khan, Babar Hayat, Cameron McAulsan, Christopher Carter, Ehsan Khan, Ehsan Nawaz, Arshad Mohammad, Kinchit Shah, Nadeem Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Raag Kapur, Scott McKechnie, Tanveer Ahmed, Tanwir Afzal, Waqas Khan and Aftab Hussain.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Khaleel Khursheed Ahmed.
Pakistan Squad: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Asif Ali and Mohammad Amir.
Sri Lanka Squad: Angelo Mathews (captain), Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Dilruwan Perera, Amila Aponso, Kasun Rajitha, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera, Lasith Malinga and Niroshan Dickwella.
Here is the full schedule of Asia Cup 2018:
Group Stage:
September 15: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Dubai)
September 16: Pakistan vs Hong Kong (Dubai)
September 17: Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
September 18: India vs Hong Kong (Dubai)
September 19: India vs Pakistan (Dubai)
September 20: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Super-Four Stage:
September 21: Group A Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
September 21: Group B Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
September 23: Group A Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
September 23: Group B Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
September 25: Group A Winner vs Group B Winner (Dubai)
September 26: Group A Runner-up vs Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
September 28: Asia Cup 2018 Final (Dubai)
Note: All the matches will begin at 7:30 pm [Bangladesh time].
