The Asia Cup 2025 tournament, set to begin on September 09, will likely not begin at the traditional 7:30 PM IST. The event, which will be held in the UAE, is set to begin at 8:00 PM IST due to extreme heat. Notably, September month is a typical summer month in the UAE, as the climate can reach to even 50 degree Celsius. While there is no official announcement from the BCCI & PCB regarding a timing change, the matches could not begin on 7:30 PM, which usually begins during India's T20 and international games.
The Continental Cup will see eight teams battle it out - India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Oman, UAE, Hong Kong, & Bangladesh. India was originally the host of the Asia Cup. However, with a recent agreement between BCCI & PCB, the matches between these two countries will be played in a neutral venue. Hence, the matches are going to be held in the UAE.
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While initially, the matches were scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM IST, the timing change news has come owing to severe heat. Notably, the UAE is also one and a half hours behind India. So, if the matches begin at 8:00 PM IST, the local time in the UAE will be 6:30 PM.
India eyeing glory in the Asia Cup 2025 event
The tournament will run from September 09 to 28. India are the defending champions of the Asia Cup, having clinched the tournament last year. However, a lot has changed since that triumph, as India will be without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, & Ravindra Jadeja in the T20Is. The trio announced retirement from the format after clinching the T20 World Cup 2024 event.
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Since then, Suryakumar Yadav has taken over the T20I captaincy reins, and has been superb so far, with India dominating each of the teams in the last year. They have also unearthed several match winners like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma & Varun Chakaravarthy in this period. India will no doubt start as the overwhelming favorites in the Continental Cup, owing to being T20 World Champions, & Continental Cup defending champions.
India’s squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
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Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel
