Pakistan came into the 2025 season of the Men’s Asia Cup with lots of expectation, having won the tri-series final against Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. They creamed over the line in their opening game of the tournament against Oman at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium quite comfortably by seven wickets as they displayed some impressive bowling performance. 

However, they couldn’t repeat the same performance in the second encounter against India at the same ground two evenings later. Batting first, Pakistan were restricted to 127/9 in their allotted 20 overs of the first innings, thanks to Sheen Afridi’s unbeaten 33 runs. Meanwhile, the Blue Brigade chased down the target by nine wickets and 25 balls to spare.

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Currently, Pakistan is in the second position in the points table of Group A. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side has already qualified for the Super Four stage of the competition. UAE, who lost their opening game to the T20 World Cup 2024 winners, opened their account against Oman, who have been eliminated from the competition.

Pakistan’s path to qualification in Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2025 explained

The Salman Ali Agha-led side will face the UAE in their last group-stage encounter of the event. The winner will qualify straightaway for the Super 4 stage of the tournament. UAE is at the third rank of the points table with one victory in two encounters at a net run rate of -2.030. So, the simple equation for both these sides will be to win the contest and qualify for the next stage.

However, there is an interesting fact. Pakistan, due to India’s refusal to shake hands with them, complained against the defending champions of the tournament and the match referee, Andy Pycroft. They reportedly claimed that they would not participate in their last group-stage game against the UAE if Pycroft doesn’t get removed from the umpiring panel.

As the news states, Pycroft is expected to stay for the rest of the tournament. In that case, if Pakistan stays true to their word, then the UAE would be rewarded with the two points for the last game to get qualified to the Super 4 stage of the competition.