With less than two weeks until the Asia Cup (September 9-28) kicks off in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the UAE are set to compete in the Inverex Solar Energy presents Bank Alfalah T20I Tri-Series. This series begins on Friday at the renowned Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The top two teams from the round-robin format will face off in the final.
This tri-series is a prime chance for the three teams to assess their performance levels ahead of the Asia Cup, which features eight teams and will be played in the T20 format this year.
Pakistan, led by Salman Ali Agha, will clash with Rashid Khan’s Afghanistan in the opening match on Friday.
Host nation UAE, under the leadership of seasoned opener Muhammad Waseem, will commence their tournament against Pakistan on Saturday.
While Pakistan and Afghanistan are the favorites to advance to the final, they cannot underestimate the UAE.
Just three months ago, the UAE stunned Bangladesh with a historic T20I series win at the same venue, defeating a Test-playing nation.
Waseem’s squad, a dynamic mix of youth and experience, is eager to make a mark against Pakistan and Afghanistan in anticipation of their Asia Cup matches on home ground.
UAE squad: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’ Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wicketkeeper), Rohid Khan, and Saghir Khan.
Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Sufyan Moqim.
Afghanistan squad: Rashid Khan (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), 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, Abdollah Ahmadzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Tournament schedule:
Friday, August 29: Afghanistan vs Pakistan – 7:00pm
Saturday, August 30: UAE vs Pakistan – 7:00pm
Monday, September 1: Afghanistan vs UAE – 7:00pm
Tuesday, September 2: Afghanistan vs Pakistan – 7:00pm
Thursday, September 4: Pakistan vs UAE – 7:00pm
Friday, September 5: Afghanistan vs UAE – 7:00pm
Sunday, September 7: Final – 7:00pm
