Asia Cup 2025: UAE announce 17-member squad, set to play in tournament after 9 years

The UAE has announced its 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup edition, which is set to get underway from September 9. Muhammad Waseem will lead the squad that is also currently featuring in the ongoing T20I tri-series against Pakistan and Afghanistan. All members of the squad playing in the tri-series have been retained while Matiullah Khan and Simranjeet Singh are the new additions to the group.

Matiullah, 32, has made his comeback, having played only one ODI and five T20Is for the UAE, with the last of those appearances coming against Nigeria in the Pearl of Africa Series in July this year. Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Simranjeet Singh is also returning to the set up for the first time since December 2024 and has played five ODIs and 11 T20Is so far.

UAE are participating in the Asia Cup for the first time since 2016. The tournament was played in the T20 format for the first time then and was hosted by Bangladesh. The UAE are a part of Group A in the continental event



and will get their campaign underway against the official hosts India on September 10 in Dubai. Pakistan and Oman are the other two teams in the group.

The UAE haven't beaten Pakistan and India in the shortest format yet, but have got the better of Oman five times.

As for their recent form, UAE have lost both their matches so far in the ongoing tri-series. They put up a good fight against Pakistan in their opening game, notching up 176 runs in the 208-run chase and fell short by 38 runs against Afghanistan. Waseem and his men are scheduled to face Pakistan today in Sharjah and will be keen on improving their performance.

UAE squad for Asia Cup 2025:

Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D' Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wk), Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh and Saghir Khan