The 2025 Asia Cup started on Tuesday (September 9) at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi with a clash between Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
This marks the start of a new era for the tournament as it has expanded to an eight-team event, which is the most in its 41-year history, where 17 editions have been held.
This has allowed three associate teams (Hong Kong, UAE, and Oman) this time around. In the previous six-team format, only one associate nation was allowed. It was Nepal, who part of the 2023 event in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where they even played against India, with their passionate fanbase also impressing the world. The Rohit Paudel-led side also featured in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which took place in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), where they almost pulled off a big upset and beat South Africa.
Why Nepal Are Not Part Of Asia Cup 2025?
Despite the three associate slots up for grabs, Nepal failed to qualify. For those unversed, the 2024 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Premier League held in Oman was the qualification event for the non-full-member sides, while the five Test-playing Asian countries earned direct qualification.
The 2024 ACC Premier Cup was a 10-team event with the top three teams set to qualify. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place team qualify. The summit clash was played between the UAE and Oman. The former defeated Nepal in the semi-final while the latter defeated Hong Kong in the final.
Nepal still had a chance to qualify for the 2025 Asia Cup but lost the third-place clash to Hong Kong by four wickets in a last-over thriller.
What Next For Nepal?
Nepal will aim to qualify for the T20 World Cup for the third time after 2014 and 2024. If they make it to the 2026 edition, they will be part of two consecutive editions for the first time.
Nepal will have a chance at booking their ticket to India and Sri Lanka for the mega event at the 2025 Asia-Pacific qualification tournament scheduled to take place from 8-17 October in Oman. Three teams out of the nine participants will qualify.