Produced by: Hitansh Gaur
Last month, the Asian Cricket Council had announced that the next edition of Men’s ODI Asia Cup will begin on August 30. The ACC has recently announced the detailed schedule of the tournament.
Pakistan was supposed to host this year’s ODI tournament, but due to objections by India, it is now being jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan will be hosting just four out of the thirteen group stage matches.
The six participating teams have been divided in the groups of three each – Group A – India, Pakistan and Nepal Group B – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan
For the group stage match, India and Pakistan are set to face each other in the third match of the tournament on September 2. The match will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Top two teams from each group will compete in the six Super-4 matches. Pakistan will host only one of the Super 4 matches while the rest will be played in Colombo.
Top teams from the Super-4 stage will compete against each in the final which will be held at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. The final is scheduled for September 17 with one reserve day.
India has faced Pakistan in Asia Cup 17 times, out of which India won 9 and Pakistan won 6. Two matches were abandoned in 1997.
The BCCI Selectors Committee is yet to announce the squad for Asia Cup. The expected 15-men line-up is: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
After the Asia Cup, India will once again face Pakistan in the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, which is being hosted by India. The two teams will play the group stage match on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.