Bangladesh begin their T20I Asia Cup 2025 campaign when they take on Hong Kong at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi today.
The match is scheduled for 8:30pm Bangladesh Standard Time. T Sports will telecast the game live, while the fans can also watch it online at Toffee and Tapmad.
Bangladesh enters the tournament with three consecutive T20I series wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Netherlands, respectively.
They also had a long fitness and skill camp during the void window created by the deferred India series.
Captain Liton Das already said that they were well-prepared and would try to create new history by going all the way in the competition.
Bangladesh have so far played three finals in the Asia Cup, once in T20I format, but have yet to clinch the coveted trophy.
A match against Hong Kong should be a perfect opportunity for the Tigers to begin the tournament with a bang in pursuit of their ultimate glory.
This will only be their second encounter against Hong Kong, with the previous match coming in the 2014 T20 World Cup.
However, that game was one of the lowest points in Bangladesh’s cricket history, as they lost to Hong Kong by two wickets in Chattogram.
Interestingly, Bangladesh’s first-ever victory in the Asia Cup also came against Hong Kong back in 2004 in Colombo, although that was in ODI format.
Hong Kong, who last played against an ICC full member nation back in 2022, were thrashed by Afghanistan in the tournament opener on Tuesday as they lost by 94 runs.
Abu Dhabi, where Bangladesh have played two T20Is so far and lost on both occasions, has been a high-scoring venue in recent times. Since 2024, the average runs per over have been 8.36 (before the Afghanistan-Hong Kong match).
Afghanistan posted 188-6 runs before restricting Hong Kong to 94-9 in the stipulated overs.
That should be a welcoming sight for Bangladesh, as they have been taking a more aggressive approach in recent times.
The opening duo of Parvez Hossain and Tanzid Hasan has been scoring almost nine runs per over since May.
However, the recent form of Towhid Hridoy might be a concern for the Tigers, as the middle-order batter averaged 20.45 and batted with a strike rate of 110.83 since his last fifty in the format against India in October last year.
Towhid might want to see the Hong Kong match as an opportunity to find his mojo back.
However, Bangladesh have included Nurul Hasan Sohan and Saif Hassan in the squad; both made comebacks against the Netherlands after long layoffs.
Liton himself has been in good touch, as he hit two fifties against the Dutch.
The dynamic pace bowling—that includes the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, and Shoriful Islam—is regarded as one of Bangladesh’s main strengths.
Bangladesh also covers the base of spin bowling nicely, where Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hosain will be accompanied by Nasum Ahmed.
