The Asia Cup, officially known as the ACC Men’s Asia Cup is a men's international cricket tournament contested between Asian countries in either One Day International format and Twenty20 International format every 2 years. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries being the only continental championship in cricket where the winning team becomes the champion of Asia. India are the current champions after winning the 2023 edition.
The Pakistan national cricket team, has represented Pakistan in international cricket since 1952. It is controlled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the governing body for cricket in Pakistan, which is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Pakistan compete in cricket tours and tournaments sanctioned by the PCB and other regional or international cricket bodies in Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20) formats. Pakistan are current ICC Champions Trophy holders.
The Nepal men's national cricket team represents the country of Nepal in International cricket and is governed by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). They are Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1996. Nepal were awarded Twenty20 International (T20I) status by the ICC in June 2014 until the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and earned One Day International (ODI) status in 2018.
The United Arab Emirates men's national cricket team is the team that represents the United Arab Emirates in international cricket. They are governed by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) which became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1989 and an Associate Member the following year. Since 2005, the ICC's headquarters have been located in Dubai.
The Afghanistan men's national cricket team represents Afghanistan in international cricket. Cricket has been played in Afghanistan since the mid-19th century, but it was only in the early 21st century that the national team began to enjoy success. The Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed in 1995 and became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001 and a member of the cricket confederation, Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 2003. After nearly a decade of playing international cricket, on 22 June 2017 full ICC Membership was granted to Afghanistan. Alongside Ireland, this took the number of Test cricket playing nations to twelve. Afghanistan is the first country to achieve Full Member status after holding Affiliate Membership of the ICC. Following this, the team moved to a new home ground in Dehradun, northern India. The current home ground of the Afghanistan Men's Cricket team is BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, India.
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium is in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It holds the record for being the venue that hosted the highest number of ODIs, 240 matches, up to December 2019. It was originally constructed in the early 1980s and has been much improved over the years. The stadium hosted its first international matches in April 1984, in the Asia Cup.
The National Stadium, also referred to as National Bank Cricket Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is the home ground of the Karachi Kings franchise in Pakistan Super League and of many other domestic cricket teams in Sindh. It is the largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a capacity to accommodate 34,000 spectators. It was built in the early 1950s under the supervision of senior civil engineer Mr. Abdul Rasheed Khan (WP) and Mr. Kafiluddin (EP), and was formally inaugurated in April 1955. In October 2022, the National Bank of Pakistan and the PCB agreed to a five-year naming-rights agreement, and resulted in the Stadium's new title, National Bank Cricket Arena.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium located in DKS Rawalpindi in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is near to Pir Meher Ali Shah University and Rawalpindi Arts Council. The first international match at the stadium was played on 19 January 1992, when Sri Lanka faced Pakistan in an ODI. The stadium hosted its first Test match in 1993, when Zimbabwe were the visitors.
The Pakistan women's national cricket team, also known as Green Shirts or Women in Green, represents Pakistan in international women's cricket. One of ten teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship, the team is organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium is a cricket ground located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The $23 million stadium, built by Concor, opened in May 2004, with its inaugural first-class match being an Intercontinental Cup fixture between Scotland and Kenya in November of that year. The stadium was one of the dedicated venues for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
The Dubai International Stadium, formerly known as the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly used for cricket and is one of the three main cricket stadiums in the country, the other two being Sharjah Cricket Stadium and Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. It has seating capacity for 25,000 spectators, but is expandable to accommodate 30,000 spectators. It is a part of the Dubai Sports City in Dubai. The architect of this project was the Canadian architect, Awsam Matloob. The stadium was one of the dedicated venues for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, it hosted Semi Final 2 and the Final on November 11, 2021 and November 14, 2021 respectively.
The Australian cricket team played Pakistan in a five-match One Day International series and one Twenty20 match starting from 22 April 2009 to 7 May 2009 in the United Arab Emirates. The series was named 'The Chapal Cup' and is the first game since 2002.
Cricket in Afghanistan is the most popular sport in the country, which is represented internationally by the Afghanistan national cricket team. Afghanistan's border with the Test playing nation of Pakistan has helped the game to take root. Pakistan's former batsman Inzamam ul Haq has coached the Afghan national team in the past. Afghanistan became a full member of the International Cricket Council on 22 June 2017, enabling the national team to participate in official Test matches.
The Afghanistan national under-19 cricket team represents the country of Afghanistan in under-19 international cricket.
Asad Shafiq is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2010 and 2020.
Cricket is a popular sport in the United Arab Emirates. UAE has participated in various competition by International Cricket Council (ICC) and is an associate member of the ICC. The country will also host few games for UAE cricket team and Afghanistan cricket team at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah in 2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup and 2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup One-Day. The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier is also scheduled in the United Arab Emirates at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, ICC Global Cricket Academy, Dubai and Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah. Formerly Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium in Dubai and Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in Sharjah were used by Pakistan for their neutral matches due to security concerns after the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team, but international cricket later returned to Pakistan.
The Afghanistan national cricket team played the Australian national cricket team in a single One Day International (ODI) in the United Arab Emirates during Australia's concurrent series against Pakistan in UAE in August 2012. The match took place on 25 August, and was held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The match was notable for being the first time a One Day International would be played over two days and with both innings starting at night. The match started at 18:00 GST and was scheduled to finish at around 1:45 during the morning of the 26th. It was also Afghanistan's second ODI against a full member of the International Cricket Council, following their one off ODI earlier in the year against Pakistan, and their first meeting in any format against Australia. Australia won this first meeting between the sides by 66 runs.
The West Indian cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates from September to November 2016 to play three Twenty20 International (T20Is), three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Test matches against Pakistan. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) agreed in principle for one of the Test matches to be played as a day/night match.
The Australian cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates from September to October 2018 to play two Tests and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches against Pakistan. Ahead of the Test series, there was a four-day practice match in Dubai.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to cricket around the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Around the world and to varying degrees, leagues and competitions have been cancelled or postponed.
