Asia Cup 2025 is moving game times to beat the crazy UAE heat. They’re pushing the start time back by 30 minutes.
Instead of 6:00 PM local UAE time, matches will now start at 6:30 PM local time which is 8:00 PM in India. This should give players and fans a bit of a breather from the heat there.
Apparently this decision was made after some talks about player safety. It gets very hot in the UAE and folks were worried. Cricket boards, TV people and tournament heads felt that playing in that kind of heat would affect the performance of the players. Plus it could lead to tired players, cramps and even injuries during the Asia Cup 2025.
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By moving the games to the evening they’re hoping for cooler conditions and it’s better for everyone including the fans chilling at the stadium.
A reporter from News24 even tweeted: Big News: Asia Cup 2025 match times changed! Games will now start at 6:30 PM local time and 8 PM India time because it’s super hot in the UAE.
Dubai will be the place to be with 11 games including the Asia Cup 2025 final.
It all starts on September 9. The Indian team led by Suryakumar Yadav starts their campaign against UAE on September 10 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
But everyone’s waiting for September 14. That’s when India and Pakistan face off. If they both play well we might even see them face each other thrice – in the Super 4 stage and potentially in the final.
There will be 19 matches in total with Dubai International Cricket Stadium hosting most of them. The rest will be at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. 8 teams are in the running for the championship this year.
The teams are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, UAE, Oman and Hong Kong. They are divided into 2 groups and the top teams from each group will move on to the Super 4 stage. Then the top 2 teams from that stage will battle it out in Dubai for the title.
Group A has India, Pakistan, UAE and Oman. Group B has Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. The first match is between Afghanistan and Hong Kong on September 9. This time the Asia Cup is in T20 format as the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is around the corner.
Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup in T20 format in 2022 by beating Pakistan in the final. All teams have announced their squads except UAE (the host nation).
