After days of uncertainties, the schedule of Asia Cup 2023 is out. As per reports, the six-team tournament will kick off on August 30 a day prior to the original schedule of August 31. Another change in schedule is that now Multan and Lahore are the two venues identified for hosting the matches to be played in Pakistan.
The highly anticipated India- Pak clash is slotted to take place on September 2 in Kandy. The opening match of the tournament will be played between Nepal and Pakistan in Multan with the final slated to take place on September 17. Pakistan will host a total of four matches including the opening match that will be played in Multan and the other three matches will be played in Lahore including a super four fixture.
The Groups
A total of 13 matches will be played in the tournament. India is placed in Group A along with Pakistan and Nepal while Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan are placed against each other in Group B. This time Asia Cup will be played in the 50-over format to help the teams prepare for the ODI world cup in India in the month of October and November.
Talking about the venues Pakistan was supposed to host four matches all at Lahore but with the change in PCB’s administration, the new board led by Zakka Ashraf altered the schedule which will see Pakistan host matches at two venues.
The Fixtures
Interestingly according to the schedule drafted by the ACC irrespective of where they finish after the group stage, Pakistan will remain A1 and India will remain A2 and in group B Sri Lanka will remain B1 and Bangladesh will remain B2.
If Afghanistan and Nepal make it to the super fours then the teams will be placed at the position of the team knocked out from the respective groups. Talking about the fixtures Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan on September 3 in Lahore followed by Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan on September 5. The only super four match scheduled in Pakistan will take place on September 6.
