Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is keen on hosting more matches of the Asia Cup 2023, in addition to the originally planned four games in the country. The PCB expressed their desire to host some more matches in Pakistan from the scheduled nine games in Sri Lanka as they are the possibility of rain during the games in Sri Lanka during September.
To address the issue of the potential rain in Sri Lanka during the continental event, PCB is interested in hosting a few more matches in their home country. Other teams, apart from India have no issues travelling to Pakistan, as the other games in group stages can be staged in Pakistan. Asia Cup 2023 will be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
It is reported that PCB expressed their desire to host the matches in Lahore and Multan. 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.
According to reports, PCB has initiated talks about their interest to host some more games in the home and 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.
The announcement of the venue and schedule was delayed for various reasons with the venue being the biggest concern after BCCI announced that Team India will not visit Pakistan for the tournament citing security reasons. 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.
As of now, all the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan are suspended due to political and security reasons. The arch-rivals do not play any bilateral series against each other and only take on each other during ICC events or Asia Cup.
The six-nation Asia Cup 2023, which will be played in a 50-over format will be played from August 31st to September 17th, India and Pakistan have been grouped with Nepal. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are included in the other group. The final will be one of a total of 13 games that will be played in the tournament to decide the winner of the marquee event.