Asia Cup 2025: Ranking the best opening pairs

Published - 29 Sept 2025, 19:00 IST | Updated - 29 Sept 2025, 19:23 IST

The Asia Cup 2025 was played in the T20 format, which meant that the role of opening pairs became even more important. In the shorter formats, the teams always look for strong and fast starts as that gives them the momentum to post or chase totals. There were some teams that saw brilliant performances from their openers, with consistent partnerships at the top of the order. These successful starts dictated the flow of matches and gave the teams an early advantage.

On the other hand, the teams that struggled at the top of the order often found themselves playing catch-up as early wickets or lacklustre partnerships put pressure on the rest of the lineup, making it difficult to post or chase big totals. On that note, here is the ratings of the opening pairs (Full Members) in the Asia Cup 2025.

Afghanistan's opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal struggled to provide consistent starts in the Asia Cup 2025, which played a major role in their early exit. Gurbaz, expected to anchor the top order, managed scores of 14, 35, and 8, failing to convert his starts into big innings.

Atal played a brilliant unbeaten 73* against Hong Kong in the opener but failed in the remaining fixtures, scoring just 0 and 18. Their inability to build partnerships exposed Afghanistan's middle order too early in games against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Despite entering the tournament as strong contenders, Afghanistan finished with just one win in three matches. Their below-par opening stands resulted in their failure to qualify for the Super Four stage.