3 Teams Who Can Replace India If They Pull Out Of Asia Cup 2025

As many as eight teams will play the Asia Cup 2025, and one of them are India, who have been among the most consistent teams in the tournament. However, with the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict, there could be a minuscule chance that they might pull out of the tournament. 

We saw the India Champions deciding not to play against Pakistan in the World Championship of Legends (WCL), not once but twice recently. Will Team India follow suit? They are due to play Pakistan on September 14 in Dubai, and they could face them two more times in the tournament. 

If India do decide to pull out of the tournament because of Pakistan's participation, here are three teams who could potentially replace them:

Nepal

Nepal played in their first-ever Asia Cup in 2023, where they played both India and Pakistan. However, they could be among the first names to replace India this time around. Nepal lost the third-place playoffs against Hong Kong in the ACC Premier Cup 2024 and did not make the eight-team event as a result. However, with one slot to fill, they are automatically next in line to take it.

Kuwait

Kuwait are the next best-ranked Asian team (among teams that have not qualified) and as a result, they too should be in the conversation of getting a chance at the Asia Cup. In the ACC Premier Cup - the qualifiers for the Asia Cup - they put on a decent show, but in the end, they were not good enough against Oman and the UAE.

Qatar

Qatar put up an excellent fight against both Hong Kong and Nepal in the ACC Premier Cup and were in the game until a certain point. They scored over 175 against both teams, but in the end, it was their bowling that let them down. However, they beat Malaysia, who are five spots above them in the T20I rankings. and Saudi Arabia to give themselves a chance, but they could not make it through in the end.