Asia Cup 2025: Afghanistan hope to put tri-series blip behind them against minnows Hong Kong

Dubai: The opening match of the Asia Cup between Afghanistan and Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi today is meant to be no more than an appetizer to the main course – read India vs Pakistan ­– on September 14 and quite possibly two more helpings thereafter.

However, with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka the other two teams in the group, a top-two finish and progress to the Super Fours stage is what the sides will be vying for.

For the uninitiated, the Asia Cup has been played alternately in ODI and T20I formats since 2016 and this year’s edition will be contested in the T20 format, providing crucial preparation for next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. 

Here are three things to look out for heading into the opener…

After defeating neighbours Pakistan early on in the recent T20I tri-series that also featured hosts UAE, Afghanistan must have gone into the final against the same opponents full of confidence, only to be hammered, thanks mainly to the brilliance of spinner Mohammad Nawaz, who claimed a fifer – including a hat-trick – in a 75-run win. While it is too early to use the term ‘chokers’ for the Rashid Khan-led side, their performances – be it the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa or in the 2023 50-over World Cup match against Australia where a hobbling Glenn Maxwell double ton pulled a rabbit out of the hat – suggest it might be the start of a worrying pattern.

Afghanistan can take heart from the fact that they have a better T20I record in Abu Dhabi than at any other ground in the UAE, winning 11 and losing 5. However, they lost their only match against Hong Kong at this venue back in 2015.

This will be Hong Kong’s fifth appearance in the Asia Cup and their second in the T20 format. The two sides have met five times in T20s, with Hong Kong having won twice, both of which came in 2015, while they have never beaten Afghanistan in T20s since then. And in 21 years of playing in the Asia Cup, Hong Kong have lost all 11 matches they have played.

They will, however, be no pushovers with a team made of expat players, and with no real expectations on them to qualify for the Super Fours. And with a battered and bruised Afghanistan team as opponents, they might just be fancying their chances to register their first win in the event.

Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran was the top scorer in the recent T20I tri-series with 194 runs at 38.80 with a strike rate of 132.87, while Rashid claimed nine wickets from just four games in the series at an average of 12.77 (ER: 7.18). These two have been in tremendous form of late and will be key to Afghanistan’s chances.

However, Afghanistan's biggest batting superstar Rahmanullah Gurbaz endured a rough week in the recently concluded tri-series, scoring just 98 runs at under 110.

For Hong Kong, Babar Hayat is one of only two centurions in T20 Asia Cup history – the other being Indian legend Virat Kohli – and with 127 scalps at 16.45, Ehsan Khan is Hong Kong's highest wicket-taker in T20Is. Their two openers Zeeshan Ali and Anshuman Rath have been far and away Hong Kong's two leading run-scorers this season and will be hoping to get the team off to a flyer.