Preview of the Asia Cup 2025 India is the favorite as the struggle for continental dominance gets underway.

With the Asia Cup 2025 scheduled to start on Tuesday, September 9, the competition for Asian dominance is going to heat up. Due to its closeness to the 2026 T20 World Cup, the 17th edition of the continental tournament will be played in the T20 format.Eight teams will unite to compete in a fight of Asian supremacy following months of uncertainty surrounding the tournament. Following cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan, the 20-day event was placed in limbo. But, keeping the bigger picture in mind, the Indian government let the cricket team to compete in the continental championship in spite of pleas to boycott it.Afghanistan and Hong Kong will play each other at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi to kick off the Asia Cup. Eight teams in all, split into two groups, will face off for the Asian championship. India, Pakistan, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates make up Group A.In contrast, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka make up Group B.

The top two teams from each group advance to the Super 4 stage, where they will play each other once more, following the first group stage, in which each team will play each other once. The final, which will take place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, September 28, will ultimately be played by the side that places in the top two of the Super 4 stages.India, who won the tournament's last edition in 2023, will try to retain their title as the reigning champions. With eight titles under their belt, the Men in Blue are the most successful team in continental event history. However, with six trophy wins, Sri Lanka is the second most successful team, and Pakistan has two titles altogether. Given the unpredictability of T20 cricket, the remaining teams cannot be taken lightly, even though the former winners will be the favorites to win the title again.