Pakistan will be batting first against Oman in their opening Twenty 20 International (T20I) encounter of the men’s Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on Friday.
The Green Shirts go into the tournament on a high, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan in the final of a tri-series, also involving hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), last week.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, speaking at the toss, said: “The team has been playing good cricket for the last two to three months and we will look to continue that form.”
The Green Shirts are clear favourites for this encounter against Oman, who are ranked 20th in the International Cricket Council T20I rankings and last played competitive T20I matches more than six months ago in February — when they lost thrice in a row to the USA.
The Green Team will face India next on Sunday — the arch-rivals will clash in a geopolitically-charged contest in Dubai. It will be the first cricket match between the sides since four days of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.
White-ball head coach Mike Hesson dismissed concerns about the national squad’s batting performance on Thursday ahead of the upcoming clash with India.
Questioned during a pre-match press conference in Dubai about the team’s batting performance and judgement, Hesson said he was “not quite sure” where the concerns were arising from, saying the team had played against the “best wrist spin attack” in the world and won by over 70 runs against Afghanistan in the tri-series final.
The eight-nation T20 tournament began on Tuesday with Afghanistan beating Hong Kong by 94 runs. India crushed the hosts, the UAE, by nine wickets on Wednesday.
Pakistan, India, Oman and UAE are in Group A, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Bangladesh form Group B.
The top two teams from each Group will qualify for the Super Four stage.
The top two teams will then play the September 28 final in Dubai.
