Asia Cup 2023: India vs Pakistan taking place on Sept 2

The schedule for the Asia Cup 2023 was unveiled on Wednesday, and it features an exciting encounter between India and Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. at the opening game, Pakistan will play Nepal at Multan, Pakistan. On September 17, 2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka will host the Asia Cup final.

Meanwhile, the tournament’s opening match will take place in Multan between hosts Pakistan and Nepal, with the final set for September 17 in Colombo.

However, the first game will be played in Pakistan’s Multan Cricket Stadium, while the other three will be held in Lahore. The Multan Cricket Stadium was added as a venue after the original plan called for all four games to be played at the same location. In addition, the host nation will host three group games and one Super Fours game, while Sri Lanka will host the remaining nine games.

Asia Cup 2023: The PCB vs BCCI tussle finally ends

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced in June 2020 that Sri Lanka would be willing to host the 2020 Asia Cup if India refused to visit Pakistan following a meeting with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

Following the meeting, the ACC issued a news release saying, “In light of the impact and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, possible venue options for the Asia Cup 2020 were discussed, and it was decided to take the final decision in due course.” The ACC made the official announcement of the postponement in July 2020. 

However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary and ACC President Jay Shah declared in October 2022 that given the current political tension between the two nations, India would not visit Pakistan. Although Pakistan had already been announced as the hosts, he insisted that “the Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue.”

Meanwhile, Ramiz Raja, who was the PCB chairman at the time, warned in December 2022 that they might withdraw from the tournament if their hosting rights were revoked because India refused to visit Pakistan. However, the teams and groups for the event, which will feature both India and Pakistan, were confirmed in January 2023.

Additionally, according to a statement made by the Asian Cricket Council on June 15, 2023, the tournament will be run in 2023 utilising a hybrid model, with four matches taking place in Pakistan and the remaining nine matches in Sri Lanka.

Asia Cup 2023 Schedule: A Historic India vs Pakistan clash awaits

The tournament will take place from August 30 to September 17 in 2023 and will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In addition, the 2023 Asia Cup will begin in Multan with a match between Pakistan and Nepal. Six teams are split into two groups of three teams each for the competition, which will be contested in a fifty-over format.

Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka are in Group B. Meanwhile Pakistan, India, and Nepal are in Group A. Pakistan will host four matches over two locations during the tournament, while Sri Lanka will host the other matches.

However, If Nepal and Afghanistan qualify from their respective groups, they will take the place of the team, who will finish third (India/Pakistan in Group A and Sri Lanka/Bangladesh in Group B).

Meanwhile, the iconic match between India and Pakistan will take place on September 2 in Kandy. 

In addition, India is the most successful team in Men’s Asia Cup history with seven titles. That follows by Sri Lanka (six times) and Pakistan (twice). The only other finalist, Bangladesh, has lost the finals on three different occasions.

At the Asia Cup, India and Pakistan faced off 17 times in various formats. In the 15 games that have resulted in a victory, India has a 9-6 advantage (with a 4-1 advantage in the last five).

The continental competition, which will feature ODI matches for the first time in five years, will act as a warm-up for the ODI World Cup, which will take place in India in October and November. In the 2018 competition, an Indian team captained by Rohit Sharma defeated Bangladesh by three wickets.

Meanwhile, the previous competition, which took place in mid-2022, was won by Sri Lanka, who beat Pakistan in the Dubai final by a score of 23 runs.

Asia Cup 2023 Schedule