• Skippers of all eight teams attend trophy unveiling ceremony.
• Fans across Asia are abuzz with excitement for tournament.
• Indian captain says Twenty20 format as highly challenging.

The trophy of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025 has been unveiled, adding to the anticipation surrounding the eight-nation tournament set to kick off in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today (Tuesday). 

Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, performed the unveiling ceremony.

The event saw the representation of the captains of all the teams participating in the tournament. 

Cricket fans across Asia are abuzz with excitement as final squads are confirmed and preparations near completion, setting the stage for three weeks of top-flight cricket.

Asia Cup 2025 will kick off with Afghanistan taking on minnows Hong Kong at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. 

The tournament will be played across two venues — Dubai International Cricket Stadium and Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium — with Abu Dhabi hosting eight matches, including a Super Four clash on September 23, and Dubai staging the majority of games, including both high-profile Pakistan-India encounters, should the arch-rivals qualify beyond the group stage.

Pakistan, fresh from their tri-nation series victory, have been placed in Group A alongside India, Oman, and hosts UAE. The Green Shirts will open their campaign on September 12 against Oman in Dubai, followed by the much-awaited clash with India on September 14, before concluding their group stage on September 17 against the UAE.

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said during the trophy unveiling ceremony that his side was “equally excited” for the Asia Cup, describing the Twenty20 format as highly challenging, where “any team can deliver an extraordinary performance”.

Group B features Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong. The top two sides from each group will advance to the Super Four stage, with the final scheduled for September 28 in Dubai.

All matches will start at 6pm Gulf Standard Time (7 PST), except for the September 15 fixture between the UAE and Oman.

Former Pakistan fast-bowling great Wasim Akram has urged players and fans from both sides to remain disciplined and not cross the line during the high-voltage Pakistan-India matches.

CHICAGO — Everyone in the Minnesota Vikings locker room had their own favorite J.J. McCarthy moment of the night. And in the end, they all added up to a thrilling 27-24 victory over the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave recalled McCarthy telling him that “he’s got us” as the team trudged off the field at halftime, trailing by four points after an anemic offensive showing. Coach Kevin O’Connell noted the “unbelievable look” in McCarthy’s eyes as the Vikings launched into a fourth-quarter comeback, with McCarthy accounting for three touchdowns.

After McCarthy had an interception returned for a touchdown early in the third quarter, right tackle Brian O’Neill listened intently as McCarthy — a 22-year-old quarterback making his NFL debut — spoke to players on the sideline.

“He believed that it was about to pop,” O’Neill said. “There’s a lot of times where you’re like, ‘Yeah, all right, cool. Let’s go, whatever.’ But the conviction in his voice and how he was walking up and down the sideline talking to everybody, little details about different plays, getting guys locked in in the huddle. It was really cool to see.”

And running back Aaron Jones Sr., whose 27-yard touchdown reception gave the Vikings their first lead with 9 minutes, 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter, recalled seven words McCarthy used once in the huddle: “Is there any place you’d rather be?”

McCarthy’s previous competitive football game was on Jan. 8, 2024, when he was playing for the college football national championship at the University of Michigan. In the ensuing 609 days, he was the No. 10 pick in the 2024 draft by the Vikings and then sat out his rookie season because of a torn meniscus in his right knee.

The Vikings committed to him as their 2025 starter as they bid farewell to veterans Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, both of whom finished 2024 on their roster, and passed on an opportunity to sign free agent Aaron Rodgers. Early Monday night, though, McCarthy looked like a quarterback who wasn’t ready to assume the mantle.

He managed only 48 passing yards in the first half, and the Vikings didn’t convert a third down until his 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Justin Jefferson with 12:13 left in the game. That cut an 11-point deficit to a 17-12 score, and McCarthy went on to throw his scoring strike to Jones and score himself on a 14-yard run with 2:53 left.

In all, McCarthy completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards. In the process, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to account for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter of his NFL debut. He also joined Steve Young as the only quarterbacks in the past 45 years to overcome a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter of their debut and win.

McCarthy grew up in La Grange Park, outside of Chicago, and said he largely blocked out the cheers and jeers Bears fans subjected him to. Instead, he leaned on his experience in the semifinals of the 2022 College Football Playoff — when he had two interceptions returned for touchdowns in a 51-45 loss to TCU.

“You never want to earn wisdom that way,” he said, “but it just brought me straight back to TCU when I had that first one early on in the game and then the second one later and at the end of the day. It sucks. It’s one of the worst things you could do as a quarterback, but you can’t do anything about it. You got to focus on the next play. The defense kept us in it the whole time, so it was just on our shoulders to go out there and execute and play as one and move on from that. That’s one of those things I don’t really hang on. And I was really grateful the way coach O’Connell handled it and was everyone on the same page.”

Jefferson said last week that McCarthy’s college career gave him confidence that, despite an uneven training camp, he would perform well when needed. McCarthy is now 64-3 in games that his team starts, dating to his sophomore year in high school.

“We knew he had that dog in him,” Jefferson said.

The Vikings have tried to build a support system around McCarthy to reduce the likelihood that he would have to carry the team late in a game. O’Connell leaned heavily on tailback Jordan Mason, who rushed for 54 yards in the second half, and the Vikings got strong play from their defense and special teams all game.

“But,” O’Connell said, “there’s no way to deny that we don’t win this game unless J.J. plays the way he did in the second half, and most importantly kept the belief of his football team behind him. And now we know it’s possible. So we hope to not be in these circumstances very often, but his team’s made of the right stuff.”