Asia Cup 2025: Afghanistan win toss, elect to bat first against Hong Kong

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first against Hong Kong in the opening match of Asia Cup 2025 at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday.

The two sides have met five times in the shorter format, with Afghanistan leading the head-to-head record 3-2.

Playing XIs

Hong Kong: Zeeshan Ali(w), Babar Hayat, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Challu, Nizakat Khan, Aizaz Khan, Kinchit Shah, Yasim Murtaza(c), Ayush Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal, Ehsan Khan

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Head-to-head

Afghanistan and Hong Kong have come face-to-face five times in T20Is, with the former leading the head-to-head record with three triumphs.

• Matches: 5
• Afghanistan: 3
• Hong Kong: 2

Form Guide

The two teams enter the Asia Cup 2025 curtain raiser with similar momentum in their favour as they both have three victories in their last five completed T20Is, respectively.

Hong Kong participated in the Asia Pacific Cricket Champions Trophy in July and made it to the final, where Malaysia outclassed them by 10 wickets in the rain-affected contest, which was reduced to five overs per side.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, tasted a similar fate in the recently concluded T20I tri-series against Pakistan and hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) as they suffered a gruelling defeat in the final against the Green Shirts.

Afghanistan: L, W, W, W, L (most recent first)

Hong Kong: L, W, W, L, W