Afghanistan will be eyeing a positive start against Pakistan in the first match of the T20I tri-series on August 29 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The tri-series featuring Pakistan, Afghanistan and UAE serves a perfect preparation for the Asia Cup 2025, starting next month.
Afghanistan have not played in the shortest format in 2025 with their last series coming against Zimbabwe in December 2024. On the other Pakistan are coming into this tournament on the back of a 2-1 victory over West Indies.
Meanwhile, Pakistan will be without their experienced stars in Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan among the notable ones while Afghanistan have named 16 players out of the 17 in the Asia Cup for the tri-series. Pacer Naveen-ul-Haq is missing from the tri-series.
Young Abdollah Ahmadzai is likely to replace Naveen in the playing XI while mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar is also in line for his T20I debut in UAE. This will be Afghanistan’s first white-ball game since the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in March.
Afghanistan vs Pakistan 1st T20I match details
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Afghanistan vs Pakistan T20I head-to-head
In T20Is, Pakistan have played seven matches against Afghanistan in T20Is with the Men in Green winning four and losing three.
How to watch AFG vs PAK 1st match in India?
No television channels will live telecast the matches in the tri-series in UAE. However, fans can still watch the Afghanistan vs Pakistan first match on FanCode app and website on a subscription model.
Afghanistan vs Pakistan predicted XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Abdollah Ahmadzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed