Pakistan Cricket Board officials (PCB) are set to meet the representatives of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to finalise the schedule of the much-anticipated Asia Cup 2023. The continental event is expected to be played between August 31 and September 17 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka with both being the joint host of the tournament.
The event will be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with four games hosted in Pakistan. The Men in Blue is likely to take on the Pakistan team in Sri Lanka and both teams can play a maximum of three games against each other if they reach the finals of the tournament.
According to the reports in ‘The News”, A PCB official told that they will meet the officials of the Asian Cricket Council in Dubai in the next couple of days to finalize the schedule and the venue of the continental event and said that the ACC had first agreed only to host one game in Pakistan, which was later revised to four games and reckons that first round matches of all the teams except that of India would be hosted in Pakistan, whereas the Men in Blue is set to take on their arch-rivals in Dambulla.
“To start with, the ACC just agreed to hold one Asia Cup match (Pakistan vs Nepal) in Pakistan but following a series of discussions between former Management Committee chairman Najam Sethi and ACC officials it was decided that Pakistan would host three matches and then a fourth was added”.
“Pakistan will host four matches now that include Pakistan vs Nepal and almost all the first round matches of other groups, Afghanistan vs Bangladesh, Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan. Pakistan will play against arch-rivals India most probably in Dambulla twice in a week and then again if both teams make it to the final.”
The ACC has announced that a total of 13 matches will be played in the competition – 4 in Pakistan and 9 in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and debutant Nepal will be participating in Asia Cup 2023.
The two giants of Asian cricket are set to clash in the ODI formats in the forthcoming Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup later this year in India. The India-Pakistan games in cricket are one of the most anticipated matches in the cricket team across any format of the game.