{"id":9075,"date":"2025-09-08T23:07:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=635076"},"modified":"2025-09-08T23:07:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:37:01","slug":"asia-cup-2025-uae-among-the-underdogs-who-could-be-standout-performers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/asia-cup-2025-uae-among-the-underdogs-who-could-be-standout-performers\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia Cup 2025: UAE among the underdogs who could be standout performers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"166\" data-end=\"528\">The <strong data-start=\"170\" data-end=\"187\">Asia Cup 2025<\/strong> kicks off on <strong data-start=\"201\" data-end=\"216\">September 9<\/strong>, marking just the third edition of the tournament to be played in the <strong data-start=\"287\" data-end=\"301\">T20 format<\/strong>. While cricketing heavyweights <strong data-start=\"333\" data-end=\"367\">India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka<\/strong> will command attention, the competition also offers a platform for associate nations <strong data-start=\"453\" data-end=\"481\">UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong<\/strong> to challenge the giants and make their mark.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"530\" data-end=\"575\">UAE \u2013 the host nation\u2019s moment to shine<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"576\" data-end=\"916\">Of the three underdog teams, <strong data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"654\">UAE stand out as the most promising contender<\/strong>. This will be their second Asia Cup appearance, having qualified by winning the <strong data-start=\"735\" data-end=\"765\">ACC Men\u2019s Premier Cup 2024<\/strong>. Preparations included a tri-series against Pakistan and Afghanistan, where despite losing all four matches, UAE showed glimpses of quality cricket.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"918\" data-end=\"1343\">Earlier this year, they stunned Bangladesh in a come-from-behind series win, proving that they can compete with higher-ranked opposition. With captain <strong data-start=\"1069\" data-end=\"1088\">Muhammed Waseem<\/strong> at the helm, supported by <strong data-start=\"1115\" data-end=\"1129\">Haider Ali<\/strong> and the explosive <strong data-start=\"1148\" data-end=\"1161\">Asif Khan<\/strong>, UAE carry both experience and power-hitting depth. Facing India, Pakistan, and Oman in the group stage, they will need consistency \u2014 but conditions at home could provide an edge.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1345\" data-end=\"1409\">Hong Kong \u2013 experienced, but still searching for first win<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1410\" data-end=\"1745\">For <strong data-start=\"1414\" data-end=\"1427\">Hong Kong<\/strong>, this will be their fifth Asia Cup appearance. Yet, they remain winless across formats. Drawn with Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, their path looks tough. However, with a settled core in <strong data-start=\"1623\" data-end=\"1682\">Babar Hayat, Ehsan Khan, Yasim Murtaza, and Zeeshan Ali<\/strong>, they will hope to cause an upset if conditions favour spin.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1747\" data-end=\"1787\">Oman \u2013 newcomers eyeing experience<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1788\" data-end=\"2121\"><strong data-start=\"1788\" data-end=\"1796\">Oman<\/strong> will make their Asia Cup debut, a historic moment for the nation. With <strong data-start=\"1868\" data-end=\"1886\">Jatinder Singh<\/strong> leading the side and <strong data-start=\"1908\" data-end=\"1925\">Shakeel Ahmed<\/strong> as their spin option, Oman will see this as a learning curve more than a realistic shot at qualification. Still, their recent Gulf tri-series win against Qatar and Bahrain underlines potential.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2123\" data-end=\"2150\">The underdog standout<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"2151\" data-end=\"2484\">While Hong Kong bring experience and Oman embrace their first opportunity, <strong data-start=\"2226\" data-end=\"2322\">UAE look the best placed among the associate nations to leave an impression in Asia Cup 2025<\/strong>. Their recent results show they can challenge top-tier opponents, and with home advantage on their side, the hosts could be the dark horses of this tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Asia Cup 2025 kicks off on September 9, marking just the third edition of the tournament to be played\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":31833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[347],"class_list":["post-9075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket","tag-uae"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}