Asia Cup To be Host by Pakistan and Sri lanka, appease India,
Pakistan will co-host the Asia Cup with Sri Lanka.
Compromise aimed at avoiding a tit-for-tat boycott by India, which has not played a bilateral series against Pakistan on either side’s home soil since 2012.
After India refused to tour due to strained relations between the two South Asian countries, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) accepted Pakistan’s hybrid proposal for hosting the Asia Cup.
The ACC announced on Thursday that Pakistan will host four games, and Sri Lanka will host the remaining nine.
According to the statement, the Asia Cup will be held this year between August 31 and September 17.
The ACC statement did not specify the tournament’s venues or which teams would compete where, but it is understood that India’s matches will be held on the island nation.
The agreement is intended to avert a tit-for-tat boycott by India, which has not played a bilateral series against Pakistan on either side’s soil since 2012. Only in international tournaments on neutral grounds do the rivals meet.
“I am overjoyed that our hybrid version for the Asia Cup has been accepted,” said Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi.
“Our ardent fans would have loved to see the India cricket team play in Pakistan for the first time in 15 years, but we respect the BCCI’s [Board of Control for Cricket in India] decision.” Before crossing borders, the BCCI, like the PCB, requires government approval and clearance.”
The two hosts and the ACC will devise a timetable. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh will be divided into two groups. The top two teams in each division advance to a Super Four, where the top two compete in the final.
The Asia Cup will serve as a warm-up for the 50-over Cricket World Cup, held in India in October and November. The schedule for the event is expected to be announced this week by the International Cricket Council.
The Pakistan Cricket Board threatened to boycott the World Cup if India refused to play in Pakistan.
According to media reports, Oman Cricket Council chief and ACC Vice President Pankaj Khimji intervened to mediate a compromise between the two sides.
India and Pakistan are bitter political rivals, and the nuclear-armed countries have fought three wars since the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947.
Any cricket match between India and Pakistan is one of the most watched sporting events on the planet.
They last played a bilateral series in 2012, and their most recent meeting was at last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, which India won by four wickets.
The Asia Cup was last played in T20 format in the United Arab Emirates in 2022 as a warm-up tournament for that year’s T20 World Cup.
The 2023 Asia Cup will be the 16th edition of the Asia Cup, with matches played as One Day Internationals (ODIs) and hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Six teams will compete in the tournament. It is scheduled to take place in August and September 2023 as a warm-up for the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The defending champions are Sri Lanka. This is the first time the Asia Cup will be held in a hybrid format, with four matches in Pakistan and the remaining nine in Sri Lanka.
The tournament will feature five full members of the Asian Cricket Council: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Nepal, which qualified by winning the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup, will join them. Nepal will debut in their ACC Asia Cup after qualifying for the first time. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the pathway structure and calendar for 2023 and 2024 in January 2023, confirming the dates and format of the tournament. Initially scheduled for 2021, the tournament was pushed back to 2023 due to a packed schedule, with Pakistan serving as hosts.
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