Pakistan will play their first match of the tournament against Oman.
Pakistan will kick off their ACC Asia Cup 2025 campaign against Oman on September 12. But there is a strong injury concern regarding the side’s captain, Salman Ali Agha. The all-rounder was seen wearing a neck bandage due to a spasm and had limited practice with the squad at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai.
According to a Geo Super report, the Men in Green skipper skipped the day’s practice session in a precautionary move ahead of the multi-national T20 tournament. Except for him, the entire squad engaged in warm-ups, stretching exercises, and even a light football session before the upcoming match. The injury scare is not as serious as the player is expected to resume training soon.
“Salman is suffering only a mild spasm, and there are no serious fitness concerns,” stated the media manager of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Notably, the team is coming on the back of a great form after thrashing Afghanistan in the final fixture of the Tri-nation series, involving the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pakistan had won one and lost one against the same opponent in the league stage leading to the summit clash.
After putting up a below-par total in the series Final, their bowling unit made a stunning comeback to bundle out the Afghans for just 66 runs. Following pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi’s opening scalp of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Nawaz led the charge with a fierce fifer. Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem also snared two wickets each to claim the Tri-series title.
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The Men in Green had a strong outing in the previous season of the Asia Cup in 2023, but fell short of securing a berth in the league’s Final. Their group-stage match against India ended in a wash-out, after thrashing Nepal by a huge 238 runs in the first fixture of the 50-over tournament.
Earlier, they had registered a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the Super Fours. But then, they folded for just 128 runs while chasing 356 against arch-rivals India. However, the team could have still made it to the summit clash by defeating Sri Lanka in their final Super Fours fixture. But a two-wicket defeat in a final-ball thriller ended their campaign in the 2023 edition.
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