Asia Cup 2022 trophy unveiled in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: The Asia Cup 2022 Trophy was unveiled on Friday by Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, the Chairman of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Cricket Board.

"The Asia Cup 2022 trophy was unveiled in Abu Dhabi earlier today (Friday) by His Highness, Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Chairman Emirates Cricket Board," said a statement from UAE Cricket.

Also present at the unveiling were Mubashshir Usmani, General Secretary, Emirates Cricket Board, Shammi Silva, President of Sri Lanka Cricket, Ashley de Silva, CEO Sri Lanka Cricket, Subhan Ahmed, Advisor, Emirates Cricket Board, Thusith Perera, GM Finance & Operations, Asian Cricket Council, and Prabhakaran Thanraj, Head of Events and Commercial, Asian Cricket Council.

The Asian Cricket Council's marquee event returns after a four-year interval with the 2022 edition of the Men's Asia Cup. Being played in the T20 format, across two venues, Dubai International Cricket Stadium will host nine games including the final, while Sharjah Cricket Stadium will host four games, starting from August 27 through September 11. Defending champions India are also the most successful team, having won the trophy seven times.

While the last edition of the tournament was held in an ODI format, this edition will feature the T20 format. The six teams are divided into two groups with India, Pakistan and a qualifying team in Group A; and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan form Group B.

Each team plays the other once in the group stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super 4 round. The top 2 teams from Super 4 will qualify for the final.

Here are the squads announced so far:

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Usman Qadir (Central Punjab).

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Taskin Ahmed.

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper-batter), Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (wicketkeeper-batter), 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 - Wicket Keeper/Batsman, Binura Fernando - Selected, but will not tour owing to an injury sustained during the SLC Invitational T20 League 2022, Kasun Rajitha - Selected, but will not tour owing to an injury sustained during the SLC Invitational T20 League 2022.

The names of the below two players have been forwarded to the Minister of Sports on August 16, 2022 seeking his approval as replacements for the two injured players: Asitha Fernando - In for Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan - In for Kasun Rajitha

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (C), Najibullah Zadran (VC), Afsar Zazai (WK), Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat, Mujib ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Rashid Khan and Samiullah Shinwari. Nijat Masoud, Qais Ahmad, and Sharafuddin Ashraf are the three players, who are part of the team as reserves.