Asia Cup 2023: Everything You Need to Know ,teams, format, dates, Venue, and more . The Asia Cup, which began in 1984, has become an important biennial event that acts as a precursor to the ODI and T20I World Cups. The last edition, held in August-September 2022 in U.A.E., was played in the T20 format and was won by Sri Lanka.
The 16th edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to take place between September 2-17, 2023, and will serve as a preparatory event for Asian teams ahead of the ODI World Cup that follows in October-November.
Venue: Pakistan, UAE, Sri Lanka, or Elsewhere?
The venue for the Asia Cup has been a topic of discussion, with Pakistan being the original hosts. However, owing to political tensions between India and Pakistan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah stated that India would not travel to Pakistan, leading to uncertainty around the scheduling of the event. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) proposed a hybrid model where India would play at a neutral venue like the United Arab Emirates, while the rest of the matches would take place in Pakistan. However, the proposal seems to have been rejected due to extreme heat conditions in the Gulf region in September. Recent reports suggest that Sri Lanka is the front-runner to host the event.
Format for Asia Cup 2023
Six teams will participate in the Asia Cup 2023, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Nepal. Nepal qualified for the tournament following their victory in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, where they defeated U.A.E. in the final. The other five teams gained automatic entry as Full Member nations. The six teams will be divided into two groups of three, with each team playing each other once in the first round. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Fours, where they will play each other once. The top two teams will then compete in the final, making a total of 13 matches.
Schedule for Asia Cup 2023
The schedule for the Asia Cup 2023 has not been finalized yet, as the decision on the venue for the event is still pending.
Implications for the 2023 World Cup
Pakistan has expressed that if the Asia Cup is moved out of Pakistan for any reason, they would boycott the tournament. This puts their participation in the ODI World Cup, scheduled to take place in India later this year, in doubt as well.
(Islamabad51-Newsdesk)
