Preparations for the 2022 Asia Cup are in full swing with the tournament just a few days away. The qualifiers for the tournament are already underway in Oman with four teams vying for the only spot left to join the top five cricketing nations in Asia.
As for the five teams in the main round of the event, this tournament provides a perfect opportunity to assemble their squads and get crucial practice ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
This will be the 15th edition of the tournament since its inception in 1984. India were the inaugural winners and are the most successful side in the tournament, having won it a record 7 times. Sri Lanka have won the tournament five times while Pakistan have lifted the title twice. Bangladesh and Afghanistan are yet to win the competition.
There have been a few issues for the teams in the lead-up to the tournament as some of their leading players have been ruled out of the tournament due to injuries. Pakistan have lost star pacer, Shaheen Afridi, India will be without their frontline pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, and Sri Lanka have also lost their leading speedster, Dushmantha Chameera, ahead of the tournament.
Nevertheless, the tournament promises to be an exciting one as arch-rivals Pakistan and India will face each other for the first time since the 2021 T20 World Cup. Pakistan will be looking to register another comprehensive win over India while the Men in Blue will be looking to avenge their record-breaking loss in the previous match.
Similarly, the likes of Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka will be looking to make their mark in the tournament and go all the way to lift the title.
| Edition | Year | Winners | Runners-up | Venue |
| 1 | 1984 | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
| 2 | 1986 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| 3 | 1988 | India | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
| 4 | 1990/91 | India | Sri Lanka | India |
| 5 | 1995 | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
| 6 | 1997 | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
| 7 | 2000 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
| 8 | 2004 | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
| 9 | 2008 | Sri Lanka | India | Pakistan |
| 10 | 2010 | India | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka |
| 11 | 2012 | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
| 12 | 2014 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Bangladesh |
| 13 | 2016 | India | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
| 14 | 2018 | India | Bangladesh | UAE |
Babar Azam, Rohit Sharma, Mohammad Nabi, Shakib Al Hasan, and Dasun Shanaka will lead their sides in the hunt for glory as they look to be crowned as the Kings of Asia.
Here are all the squads for Asia Cup:
Pakistan
| Babar Azam (c) | Shadab Khan (vc) | Mohammad Rizwan (wk) | Fakhar Zaman | Haider Ali |
| Asif Ali | Iftikhar Ahmed | Khushdil Shah | Mohammad Nawaz | Mohammad Wasim Jnr. |
| Mohammad Hasnain | Haris Rauf | Naseem Shah | Shahnawaz Dahani | Usman Qadir |
India
| Rohit Sharma (c) | KL Rahul (vc) | Rishabh Pant (wk) | Virat Kohli | Suryakumar Yadav |
| Deepak Hooda | Dinesh Karthik | Hardik Pandya | Ravindra Jadeja | Ravi Ashwin |
| Ravi Bishnoi | Avesh Khan | Arshdeep Singh | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Yuzvendra Chahal |
Afghanistan
| Mohammad Nabi (c) | Najibullah Zadran (vc) | Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) | Hashmatullah Shahidi | Samiullah Shinwari | Hazratullah Zazai |
| Afsar Zazai (wk) | Fareed Ahmed | Noor Ahmed | Rashid Khan | Naveen-ul-Haq | Mujeeb-ur-Rahman |
| Usman Ghani | Karim Janat | Azmatullah Omarzai | Fazalhaq Farooqi | Ibrahim Zadran |
Bangladesh
| Shakib Al Hasan (c) | Mushfiqur Rahim (wk) | Nurul Hasan (wk) | Mahmudullah | Sabbir Rahman | Nasum Ahmed |
| Taskin Ahmed | Parvez Hossain Emon | Anamul Haque | Mahedi Hasan | Mehidy Hasan | Afif Hossain |
| Ebadot Hossain | Mossadek Hossain | Hasan Mahmud | Mustafizur Rahman | Mohammad Saifuddin |
Sri Lanka
| Dasun Shanaka (c) | Danushka Gunathilaka | Pathum Nissanka | Kusal Mendis (wk) | Charith Asalanka | Bhanuka Rajapaksa (wk) |
| Ashen Bandara | Dhananjaya de Silva | Wanindu Hasaranga | Maheesh Theekshana | Jeffrey Vandersay | Praveen Jayawickrama |
| Chamika Karunaratne | Dilshan Madushanka | Matheesha Pathirana | Nuwanidu Fernando | Dushmantha Chameera | Dinesh Chandimal (wk) |
| Binura Fernando | Kasun Rajitha |
According to the format of the tournament, the teams have been divided into two groups of three teams each. Arch-rivals Pakistan and India are placed in Group A and will be joined by one qualifier while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are placed in Group B.
The top two teams from each group will move to the Super 4s round where each team will play against each other once.
The top two teams at the end of the Super 4s stage will qualify for the final of the tournament.
| Group A | Group B |
| Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| India | Bangladesh |
| Qualifier | Afghanistan |
The main round of the tournament will commence on 27 August with Sri Lanka and Afghanistan facing each other in the opening encounter. The blockbuster clash between Pakistan and India will be played on 28 August at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Super 4s round will begin on 3 September and the final of the tournament will be played on 11 September.
The qualifiers for the main round are already underway with Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, and Kuwait vying for the remaining spot in the tournament.
Here’s the schedule for the main tournament:
All the matches will be played at 6:00 pm Pakistan Standard Time
| Match | Date | Team | Venue | Time |
| 1 | 27-Aug | Sri Lanka Vs Afghanistan | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 2 | 28-Aug | India Vs Pakistan | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 3 | 30-Aug | Bangladesh Vs Afghanistan | Sharjah | 18:00 |
| 4 | 31-Aug | India Vs Qualifier | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 5 | 1-Sep | Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 6 | 2-Sep | Pakistan Vs Qualifier | Sharjah | 18:00 |
| 7 | 3-Sep | B1 Vs B2 | Sharjah | 18:00 |
| 8 | 4-Sep | A1 Vs A2 | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 9 | 6-Sep | A1 Vs B1 | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 10 | 7-Sep | A2 Vs B2 | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 11 | 8-Sep | A1 Vs B2 | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 12 | 9-Sep | B1 Vs A2 | Dubai | 18:00 |
| 13 | 11-Sep | Final | Dubai | 18:00 |