New Delhi: Ending months of stalemate over venues for the impending Asia Cup Tournament, the organizers have finalized the host countries for it. As per the official declaration, the Asia Cup matches will take place under a hybrid model, where some matches will be played in Pakistan & others in Lanka.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Thursday confirmed the dates for tournament and said that the matches will be played in hybrid model. As per the announcement, 4 matches will be held in Pakistan and the rest will take place in Sri Lanka. The Asia Cup tournament will begin on August 31 and come to an end about a month later on September 17.
The tournament will see 4 matches being played in Pakistan and then moving to Lanka for rest of 9 matches. The team will be competing in a total of 13 league matches during the month-long tournament.
The Asia Cup 2023 will have 6 teams vying for the coveted title namely Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan & Nepal. The latter is making its debut in the cricket tournament.
The grouping of India and Pakistan in the same league have already increased the adrenalin rush for cricket lovers, who will be waiting for epic clash with much anticipation. Sri Lanka along with Bangladesh & Afghanistan have been placed in the second group.
Out of three teams in a group, two will move into Super 4 round and then will vie in the semi-final to book a berth in the final round.
Sri Lanka is the defending champion of Asia Cup. It defeated Pakistan in the Asia Cup final held in 2022 at United Arab Emirates.
The announcement of Asia Cup schedule will also pave the way for announcement of Cricket World Cup schedule & fixtures. The Cricket World Cup is slated for October-November in India this year.
The ICC held back announcement of WC fixtures over Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s reservations against travelling to India for the 50-over match. PCB insisted that if India doesn’t accept the hybrid model and visits Pakistan for the Asia Cup match, it wouldn’t reciprocate and hence boycott the World cup match.
Now, that the Asia Cup schedule has been announced, the fixtures of Cricket World Cup are expected to be released soon.
