The 2025 Men’s Asia Cup: Can India go again?

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Hello, I'm Artif Nawaz and welcome to the TMS podcast. The 2025 Asia cup is right around the corner and so can India win the trophy for a ninth time? Or will Sri Lanka win the trophy for a seventh time? Or will Pakistan win the trophy for a third time? Or will Bangladesh win the trophy for a first time? Who knows? We'll find out which players are going to be crucial for which team and how does it all work. Throughout this tournament, myself and fellow TMS commentator Nikesh Regani will be bringing you all the stories, insight and analysis for the 2025 Asia Cup. And for this episode we're joined by the host of the Bangla Cricket Podcast, Roshan Alam. A very good afternoon to you both. Before we get into it properly, Nikesh, tell us how this tournament works.

So basically, best teams in Asia atif, as you'd expect, taking on each other. But it's not as simple as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. There are other countries taking part too. The likes of Oman and Hong Kong will be playing their part in this tournament too. And look, it's. It's no surprise that India will be playing Pakistan in the group stages. There is a big long group stage to start with. They could also then play each other in the next round and potentially also meet in the final. So it's a typical ICC style of tournament, although it is run by the Asian Cricket Council and it basically Means we can watch a lot of India, Pakistan really, but don't, don't forget the other nations as you mentioned there. Sri Lanka going for a seventh title, very successful in this competition and they won the last time. It was a T20 competition, which was a couple of additions ago. India winning the Asia cup the last time it was held, but that was in the ODI format. We're back to T20s now, so watch out for the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and potentially Afghanistan too.

There's two groups of four and then it goes to the Super 4 stage and then you have your Grand Final. So it is a big long tournament, eight teams for the very first time. Roshan Alam, what do you think of Bangladesh's chances this time around?

This is new for me because it's the first time in a very long time that Bangladesh seemingly go into a tournament without the weight of heavy expectation. And I think that's because it's the first tournament we've had in about five or 10 years where that golden generation, those sort of big five players that we've spoken about for the last decade, your Tamims, your shakibs aren't in the team and it is genuinely a brand new look Bangladesh team. And so I think this team have probably less expectation. How will they get on? I think they aim for a second round berth and once they get there, anything's possible. But I genuinely think they're playing without that heavy expectation that they've had in the years gone by.

I mean, India are sort of heavy favorites, I would say by sort of a few furlongs, if we're honest. Most successful team in the, in the competition's history. But the way, sort of their recent form has been the way they sort of match up as a team, their players, I don't think anybody really comes close at the moment. Is that fair to say?

Yeah, I think that's, that's pretty fair to say. T20 world champions, of course. And we're back to the T20 format. In this competition they've got so many players to choose from. I think when they announced their squad, the main stories were who was left out rather than who's in the side. That that's just how much debate there is around the likes of Shreya Sire and, and other big players missing out on a place in the squad. But they look very exciting. They're led by Suryakumar Yadav so, you know, different leadership in the T20 format. And they're exciting, they play an exciting brand of cricket. They're almost like the Basballers, I guess, of T20 with the likes of Abhishek Sharma and those guys at the top of the order. You know, the likes of Rinku Singh has been talked about a lot. Shreya Sai has been talked about a lot. Yashasvi Jaisval. But those are the players who are not going to feature in the 11th, but the players who are there, it's worth just mentioning how good some of them are and absolute world class. They've lit up the ipl which is a competition we've covered here on TMS and across five live Sports Extra. So we know what these guys can do and it's down to everybody else to try and stop them.

It certainly is. And you know, we say most successful team, eight times they've won this trophy. This tournament actually goes back to 1984, so it's one of the oldest one day international competitions in the history of cricket. So something with a lot of heritage. What I found quite surprising, Nikesh, when just looking into the stats before we recorded this podcast, is that, okay, India have won it eight times. Most successful team, perhaps not a massive surprise. Sri Lanka have won it six times, Pakistan have only won it twice. And I mean, I understand that recently their fortunes have sort of dipped, but between the 80s and the 2000s and things like that, you'd expect them to win it more. What do you put this sort of their failure in this tournament down to?

Well, yeah, I mean, especially when you consider that it was an ODI tournament right up until recently and then T20 started to take over a little bit more. They were a fantastic ODI side right through the 80s and the 90s, you know, the likes of Imran Khan and then the, the Wazeems and the Waqas and all these guys and then in Zimmerman coming into the side and all those quality batters they had in the 90s to go along with those bowlers. It's a difficult one to put your finger on. I guess it just comes down to a little bit of bad luck because you look at other ODI tournaments in the 90s and they were so successful in Sharjah in those triangular tournaments where India also featured quite a lot along with the likes of Sri Lanka and then Australia, England. So they, they had a pedigree of winning tournaments with big teams in there. I guess it's just, just a luck thing. And in more recent years, India have of course gone a little bit ahead of the other Asian sides in terms of both ODIs and T20s. Pakistan have been left a Little bit behind and then you've got the emergence of sides like Bangladesh in the last 10 years although as Roshan mentioned, a slightly newer looking side at the moment. But they were a force to be reckoned with previously and Sri Lanka have always been consistent, haven't they? Right through the late 90s and into the early 2000s, a very, very strong side. So there has been lots of competition among there. And now you add Afghanistan into the mix, it's probably going to be an even more difficult task for the likes of Pakistan to win another title.

Yeah, it certainly would be particularly but the first time eight teams as you're saying Nikesh in this competition. Now when we look at some of those newer teams, Roshan, I say newer teams. Hong Kong are playing the Asia cup for their fifth time. They featured in five editions of the Asia Cup. What do you make of the chances of the likes of Hong Kong, Oman, you know, like do you think they're there to sort of make up the numbers? Can they cause a serious shock? I suppose we did just see the United Arab Emirates in a try series against Pakistan and Afghanistan where they sort of pushed Afghanistan close in one of the matches. They only lost it by four runs. So is there a chance that they could spring a surprise against one of the the bigger countries?

100%. I think we always talk about how T20 cricket is a leveler and I think the UAE in particular as host nation, I think they've done their homework. I think this tri series that they've just recently completed, despite finishing bottom of that table, they've been doing their homework on the other teams in the Asia cup and I think that's going to stead them well. They beat Bangladesh recently. They play as a unit. You know, their captain in particular, Mohammed Waseem is a phenomenal kind of like batter at the top of the order and he really kind of inspires that team and I think anything happened, we say that a lot in T20 cricket but I think their preparation has been probably better than some of the other teams coming into this tournament with this tri series against Afghanistan and Pakistan in home conditions. So I think, yeah, I think there's an absolute chance that one of these kind of so called newer, fresher, less experienced teams are going to spring a.

Surprise like Roshan says, you know, every chance. And when you consider the background of a lot of these players, a lot from South Asian backgrounds, you know, sort of not Middle Eastern backgrounds as such, Indian expats, Pakistani expats, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis all playing over there so there's a high caliber of player there and you know, T20 is the best format for upsets and yeah, hopefully we do see one or two.

Yeah. The UAE team itself is quite a great example of multiculturalism. It's one of the only places you'll find Indians and Pakistanis in the same cricket team these days. But I tell you what, watching some of their games, the uae, they will be the, the sort of the de facto host, even though the official host is, is India. And we'll talk about that in a second. But just watching some of the UAE's performances in that tri series, Asif Khan, I mean, absolutely spectacular big hitting player, particularly on those UAE pitches where you get forward against the spinners and he, and, and he just can send the ball sailing, putting a very impressive performance against Pakistan in the first match. So let's talk about the host situation a little bit. So India is officially the host, but because of sort of ongoing political strains with Pakistan, they've opted to host the entire thing at a central venue. Is this something we're gonna have to get more and more used to, Nikesh?

I think so. I mean, even when you look at the Women's World cup coming up in India, India versus Pakistan is going to be held in Sri Lanka because you know, India have refused previously to travel to Pakistan, the men's team, for the Champions Trophy. And that really set the precedent. Enough was enough as far as the both boards were concerned. And Pakistan hit back and said, well, right, we're not going to travel to India if India are hosting any multi nation tournaments in the future, be it ICC or Asia cup competitions. So yes, we are going to have to get used to it. Yes, it's frustrating. You know, gone are the days where you would see fans of India and Pakistan traveling across the border to watch their side in these competitions. And it really brought its own unique atmosphere, really. And you know, you saw how strong the friendship was between the two nations and how welcoming the nations were to one another back in those early 2000s.

The tournament structured in a way that, you know, they can, they can play each other up to three times. They're, they play each other once in the group stage, that's confirmed. That's on the 14th of September by the way, if you want to mark your calendars. And then they could play each other again in the Super Fours and then potentially again in the final, although they have never met in the final before. That's astounding, isn't it? In 16 editions of the Asia cup they've never met before in the final. So this is, I mean, they never miss a chance to. I mean, sometimes it's sort of so transparently commercial cricket. Roshan, how do you feel about this?

Well, my favorite thing about the Asia cup is that I don't think I've ever witnessed the group stage draw. It just pops up on a, on a press release somewhere or on an Instagram post. And you know, it's cricket's greatest coincidence that India and Pakistan have always ended up in the same group. You know, it's phenomenal. And then, you know, in the same group and then with two of the lesser experienced sides and then you often get Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the other group, the Group of Death, as I call it. So, I mean, look, it's a money spinner, isn't it? It makes the Asia cup exciting. I think the potential for three games is always exciting. As the neutral. Would I like to watch a group stage draw for the Asia cup one day? Yes. Would India and Pakistan end up in the same group that time? Who knows?

Yeah. Roshan, we don't see the draws for the World Cups either. And the ICC have admitted in the past that, look, it makes sense to draw India vs Pakistan at some stage in the group and also England versus Australia. Although in, in men's ODI World Cups now of course it's one big group so there's, there's no need for any scrutiny over that. But look, it makes a lot of commercial sense.

Fascinating how it's all sort of playing out. But yeah, I mean, it will be interesting. Do you think sometimes there's a little bit of resentment from other countries that so much of the focus is on India and Pakistan and the hype between it, particularly as it hasn't been a particularly competitive rival. With the last few encounters, India have kind of dominated.

I don't think there's any resentment about the game itself. I think the rivalry is fantastic. It's exciting. People get talking about cricket I think sometimes, and this is me thinking back to perhaps the Champions Trophy where India didn't necessarily have to travel as much as the other nations. I think there was more resentment around that and schedules and air miles covered than there was the actual game itself. I think we all sort of know that the Asia cup is basically an indication India, Pakistan, you know, a three match series disguised as a bigger tournament. And we're here for it because it's always satisfying to then have Bangladesh or Sri Lanka qualify for the final and sort of disrupt that. I think that's Almost a kind of motivation to the other teams going, hang on a second, the script isn't written. There's a final up for grabs here and we're going to try and put our fit in it.

Well, they've been put into a bit of a group of death because Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are in the same group. That's a tough break. How has that been received by fans in Bangladesh? Is there any feeling of like, this is just not fair, or do people just sort of get on with it because they realize the commercial realities of what a Pakistan India game brings to everybody?

I think they get on with it. I think it is the group of death and I think it is one, though that I think every team in that group feels like they could come through. You know, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka played recently. Bangladesh won that series, but Sri Lanka can, you know, obviously have the ability to beat Bangladesh on their day. And I think Afghanistan's place in that tournament now, they've gone from being the kind of underdogs and the ones to watch to actually, I would say favourites in that group. And so the group of death has just got scarier and more dangerous, I think. But I think, I think that makes for exciting cricket because whilst you have that India Pakistan rivalry in Group A, hopefully we'll have some really competitive cricket and a tight finish to see who qualifies for the second round in Group B. And I think that is good for the tournament to keep it exciting in all sort of parts of the game.

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Right, guys, let's talk about players, right? Which players should we be looking to? If a neutral was watching this tournament, which players would you point them in the direction of? I've got a list in front of me. It's mostly Indian players. I'm not gonna l. You know, there's loads of exciting players in all the teams, Nikesh, who are going to be the box office attractions of this Asia Cup.

Well, let's start with Afghanistan then because I think Afghanistan have got a real chance of qualifying for the final in this one. As Roshan says, favorites for their group certainly. The way they've been playing in recent times, the way they've been consistent in ICC tournaments against the top nations too, both in T20s and ODIs. You've got the usual suspects, the likes of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed. I think they'll come into their own because of the pitches in the uae. But look out for Ramanula Gurbas and Ibrahim Zadran at the top of the order. I think they could cause some absolute carnage if they get in, particularly against the spinners. They'll of course take advantage of the power play. They'll come out hard and then they've got the ability in those middle overs to hit the big shots against the spinners. As far as India are concerned, I think Abhishek Sharma is going to have a great tournament at the top of the order. Such an exciting player, such a box office player. And Surya Kumariadav against the spinners. There's probably nobody better in world cricket right now. In terms of Pakistan. Look, my favorite player from Pakistan at the moment, Nassim Shah. Just I think even on dead pitches in the uae, when you see extreme pace, the ability to bowl those yorkers at high pace, the action that he has as well, I think adds to his charm when he's running into bowl. I think I'm looking forward to seeing what he can deliver from Bangladesh. I'm sure Roshan will agree with me here. Rishad Hussain, we've seen him in recent tournaments, haven't we? And he certainly looks like he's very tall. Of course he's a spinner but he's, he's got something a little bit different, a wrist spinner with that extra bounce and with that slight different angle to the conventional wrist spinner. We see tall off spinners, don't we, from time to time. Rarely we see a tall wrist spinner. So I don't know what Roshan's thoughts on Rishad Hussain and whether or not he thinks he's going to be successful in this tournament.

Well, he had a fantastic breakout tournament in 2024. I think he finished on 14 wickets which was up there amongst the top wicket takers. But I think for me the most surprising thing about Rishad Hossein is that a leg spinner has broken into the squad and successfully stayed in there. And he is, yeah, he's phenomenal. He can, you know, like you say, he sort of wrist spins phenomenal. He can find wickets where there aren't wickets. He can also hit the ball. So it's a really useful utility player to have down the order for Bangladesh. And it's no surprise that in the last two years his PR and his value as a franchise player has really soared. And I know they were, you know, looking to sign him in the BBL and I think he's just all set there to have a brilliant tournament.

Yeah, couldn't agree more. He's been absolutely superb of late as well. Also some of the other teams, you know, so Hong Kong, they've got a new captain as well, Yasim Murtaza and a new coach as well, Koshal Silva of Sri Lanka. So you know, getting their personnel in gear is their fifth time participating. I mean they've been a part of. So they're almost a staple of the Asia Cup. I don't know why that surprised me. Hong Kong have sort of been a staple of this tournament as well. I quite like, you know, just watching Afghanistan recently in that tri series, you know, they again they're spinners like you mentioned Nikesh, they always come to the fore. The conditions are likely to favor them as well quite heavily. Particularly in Sharjah where the bull was turning sideways. From Pakistani perspective I'd certainly keep a lookout for Muhammad Nawaz. No relation I should point out. But he just took his first fiverr in the final of that try series and, and also took a hat trick recently. So Pakistan adopting that approach very similar to England recently where they sort of play four specialists and a couple of sort of spinning all rounders as their fifth bowler. It's very much in vogue at the moment that, that style. I'm not quite sure, quite sure why, but yeah, in terms of who's going to end up player of the tournament, I, I'm finding it very hard to look past, past Abhishek Sharma. You mentioned how destructive he is, how much expectation there is. I mean he's already scored two international T20 centuries and he's only played 17 matches for India. This guy is astounding even by sort of Indian standards. And we talk about India being this sort of conveyor belt for world class T20 players like this guy, even by those standards. Nikesh blows everybody out of the water at the moment.

He certainly does. As an opener. He's right up there with the very best in T20 cricket, you know, and perhaps could become an all timer if he carries on like this. Just as you say, so destructive in the power play. The ability to carry on and hit the spinners as well, which is crucial. You can't just be good off the quicks. You're going to be playing in conditions like in the uae. You're going to have to be destructive against the spinners to be successful too. And that's exactly what he is. I mean, just to give you an example of how good this guy is for people who haven't seen as much of him. He plays for the Sunrises, Hyderabad in the ipl. He bats alongside Travis Head at the top of the order and he is the aggressor. And Travis Head usually plays around him. That's not to say Travis Head defends. He hits at a strike rate of around 140, 150, 50 in those power play overs. But Abhishek Sharma usually goes in the region of around 200 and he doesn't usually just get 15 or 20. He gets those big scores too. He's right up there usually in the last couple of seasons at the top of the run scorers in the tournament too. So an absolute gun at the top.

Yeah, just wildly entertaining player. I mean you've got to be right, You've got to be. If you're, as you say, you're overshadowing Travis Head and you've. And the kind of people he's keeping out of that Indian side as well. And we're talking about a country with no short shortage of talent. So he's definitely a big player in this competition. We gotta think, we've got to talk about who we think is going to win this whole thing. Now India is the easy answer, but let's try and be a bit out there. Let's have one rogue prediction for this season's Asia Cup. One thing that you think is going to happen that might shock people. Let's start with you, Roshan Alam, because I have a feeling I know what yours is going to be.

I, well, I actually, I'd love to see Afghanistan get to the final. I'd love to see them win it. I think that that team as a unit have played together for a very long time. I think they are secretly everyone's second favorite Asian team generally speaking. And I just think like, you know, the stage is set for them to have a really successful tournament. They've gelled, they know what they're doing. They're fantastic at the top. They've got a brilliant bowling attack. The conditions, you know, this is a sort of venues that they, they play a lot of games at. So everything is all set for Afghanistan to have a phenomenal tournament. I would love, love to see them in the final.

Yeah, they did lose their most recent final to Pakistan in that tri series but they did put in some very impressive performances all the way through. That was really their only bad day at the office there. Come on then Nikesh, what we got? You've got to have something good. I know you got something good. What do you got? What's the, what's your crazy prediction?

Well, Hong Kong to give Bangladesh a good game on Thursday. I know Russian won't like me saying that. I, I just think in T20 cricket there's going to be one upset in the tournament, isn't there? And that for some reason just sticks out to me. I mean Hong Kong, as you say, have got, got the pedigree at least of being a regular member of the Asia Cup. And you know, with the changes they've made recently, they've got a more settled looking side in the last couple of seasons. I think they might run Bangladesh close. I'm not saying they're going to beat them but I think that'll be quite a tight game. And in terms of the tournament, look, you can't really look past India at this stage but if India don't go on to win it then I think Afghanistan might just do my rogue prediction.

For this, this edition. And you know, I, I really wanted to make, come up with something original. So this is what I'm thinking, right? I think that in this tournament one of the teams, I won't say who, but one of the teams will cross 300 runs in an innings. So I think one of the Teams. It could be anybody, it could be Oman, it could, it could be Hong Kong, it could be anybody. But I think somebody will cross the 300 barrier. It probably will be India but you know, I can see that actually happening in this tournament. There is, you know, in some of the games there's, I feel like there's quite a big gap in, in class between the team. So I think that will, that will play out at some stage and I just think I'm going to keep a very close eye on Pakistan who's just sort of been left out of the build up a little bit of it just because they're still in that rebuilding phase. Mike Hessen, new coach coming in, imposing his kind of standard on the, on the whole thing. But they showed a lot of, a lot of character in this tri series. They were expected to beat the UAE and they did and they did drop a game to Afghanistan but they beat them again in the final and of course historically one of the strongest teams in Asia. So despite sort of, you know, a sort of, I think this sort of low height build up might work to their advantage where expectation is off a little bit. The chance to bet into the tournament by playing against the lower ranked teams before, before their big clash against India on the, on the 14th of September. I've marked that in my calendar months and months ago. Now if you were going to give Pakistan fans some hope, Nikesh, how would you do it? And Roshan, get ready because you're going to answer this next.

Well, look, they've got a relatively easy group, haven't they compared to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. So you know, even if they do lose to India they'll qualify for the Super Fours which I guess is effectively kind of a semi final stage with, with the last four teams left in the competition and from then on in, you know, you win a couple of games and, and you're through to the final. So it's not all doom and gloom. They won the tri series as you say, that they're in, you know, a little bit of a transition phase I would say in their T20 cricket. A few new players coming in of course. I guess a change of philosophy might be the thing that Pakistan need going forward and just catch up with the rest of the world in terms of how they attack in T20 cricket with the bat particularly. But they've got the bowling firepower certainly and it's not all about spin in the UAE as we saw in the 90s with Wakay Younis and Wazimakram. On dead pitches, if you've got that extreme pace, the ability to swing the ball, then you're always going to be in the game, both in the power play and then potentially at the death with those searing quick yorkers. So don't, don't worry Pakistan fans. It's not going to be all doom and gloom, is, is all I'll say at this stage.

No Barber, no Rizwan for the first time in a long time in a major tournament as well.

I mean, lots of learning will be taking place for the younger players.

Well, you'd hope so.

Well, I, I think, I mean, you know, if you like, under the new regime, this team seems to have a new mentality. And if you're telling Baba Azam that he needs to go work on his strike rate to make the squad, I think that sets a real high bar for this Pakistani team. And also, you know, whilst a lot of the other teams have been playing Test cricket or like Bangladesh scrambling to organize preparation, Pakistan have done their homework. They've arrived in, you know, the host venue like a month in advance. They've played a lot of cricket there. They, for me, are one of the best prepared teams going into this tournament. They've got momentum, they've got the wins, they've got the opportunity, experience and now they just need to execute it. So actually, I think they're in a far better position than we might realize.

Dark horses for the tournament. Pakistan, that's, that's a, that's a shout. It's, it's bizarre really, because they always, they used to be one of the favorites for the tournaments and now they've sort of transitioned nicely into that dark horse position. There was a lot of excitement, Nikesh, because they were training at the same time as India recently, so they were all on the, on, on the similar, on the same training facility at the same time. So all the photographers, all the media, they sort of pointed their cameras like, oh, we might get a moment here. But both camps sort of kept to themselves. There wasn't much overlap. I get the feeling this time you'll see possibly the, the least sort of overly friendly. Like you might not have Virat Kohli putting his arm around Barbara because neither of them will be playing. You definitely won't get that. But, but you know, you might not get that visual anymore of like overly friendly cricket diplomacy, I guess.

So. I, I don't know about that. I, I think once they get onto the pitch, there'll be lots of, of hugs exchanged and, you know, the usual pleasantries, you know, with people like Virat Kohli of course and Barbarasam, two legends in their own countries. Of course, you know, it makes great content when they embrace each other and have those little interactions. The same with Shaheen Shah Afridi when he was injured and Virat Kohli sort of went up to him at training session, asked him about his injury and it just made great content, didn't it? Those types of things always go down well. We saw in the World Championship of Legends, didn't we, which took place in the UK among some legendary players of both sides. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, you know, chatting away to the Pakistani players. Of course they didn't play each other in that tournament due to political tensions and some of the Indian players refusing to play against Pakistan. But for the ones who weren't refusing, the likes of Yuvraj, who was captain of that side, we saw him interacting with the Pakistani players just fine. So yeah, honestly I don't think there'll be any issues once they get out onto that field. They're just two sets of guys with very similar cultures who, who are going to get along just fine.

Right, two questions coming up. One word answers I would like from both of you. Okay, so the teams I'm gonna give you, Oman, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates. Which of them is going to win the most games in this competition?

Uae. I think they are the best prep team. They've played against high ranked opposition. They've beaten Bangladesh. I can see them swinging. A surprise.

I am gonna go for potentially UAE as well. Only because they've got Oman in their group and yeah, I can, I can see them thumping Oman.

Say what you mean you think they might be Pakistan?

Well, yeah, the most amount of wins so yeah, that, that might be their second one. No, that's not gonna happen. That's not gonna happen.

Right, okay. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka. One of them suffers an embarrassing loss. Who's it going to be?

Well, I, I hate to say it but teams often get their big headline making upset against Bangladesh, don't they? That tends to happen quite a lot. Used to be Pakistan for a while but, but you know, any player who needs a comeback, any player who needs to be back in form, any team who are looking for an upset always seems to happen against Bangladesh. So that's my worry in this. You know, we've spoken a lot about, you know, Hong Kong in this tournament. Tough opening fixture.

Yeah, I've already called it Roshan, I've already called it Hong Kong to, to run Bangladesh close and they might well do it. You never know.

Well, let's see how it goes. It sounds like it's going to be really exciting. Thanks so much Nick and Roshan. So good to chat to you and looking forward to chatting more and more as this tournament progresses. That's it for this episode of the TMS podcast though. Make sure you're subscribed to Never miss an episode, including all the analysis around England men's White Ball series against South Africa, including that record breaking effort in Southampton on Sunday, plus no Balls with Alex Hartley and Kate Cross. Test Match Special will bring you live coverage of the first of three T20s between England and South Africa from South Sapphire Gardens at 6:15 on Wednesday evening on BBC Sounds 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport app and website. And you can keep up to date with all things cricket by following at BCTMS on X and at BBC Cricket on Instagram. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next time.

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We've called it, unsurprisingly, BBC Women's Football Weekly.

We'll continue to bring you the latest news, insights and analysis from across the women's game.

They're throwing some big money around. I want to see how they line up, how everyone fits in.

Episodes will be available every Tuesday as ever, alongside special unfiltered player interviews from the biggest names in the WSL and beyond.

To make sure you never miss an.

Episode, just search for BBC Women's Football.

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