Asia Cup begins on Saturday, August 27, with a clash between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. But, the match that everyone is looking forward to is of course India vs Pakistan. The two cricketing heavyweights begin their Asia Cup campaign this time with this clash on Sunday, August 28. This time the Asia Cup is being played in the T20 format as a preparatory tournament for the T20 World Cup at the end of the year in Australia. The tournament this time is being played in the UAE, though Sri Lanka are the official hosts. The tournament couldn't be played as per schedule in the island nation because of the ongoing political crisis in Sri Lanka. Since 2016, the Asia Cup has been played on a rotational basis between the ODI and T20 formats, depending on which global ICC tournament is scheduled next. Hong Kong on Wednesday (August 24) became the third team in Group A, which has India and Pakistan. India are scheduled to play Hong Kong on August 31.