India and Pakistan join Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal in the 16th edition of the Asia Cup starting August 30th at Multan. Co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the 13-match, 19-day ODI tournament ends September 17th and features two groups, with two teams from each qualifying for the Super Four stage. The top-2 teams from the Super Four stage will face off in the final at Colombo.
The 2023 Asia Cup, a men’s ODI and T20I cricket competition organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will be played in the 50-over ODI format for the first time since 2018, when India beat Bangladesh in the summit clash by three wickets in Dubai.
While Pakistan remain the official hosts, the tournament will be played in a hybrid model with Pakistan hosting four games and Sri Lanka nine. This, because the Indian Cricket Board BCCI refused to play in Pakistan owing to political tensions between the two countries.
The much awaited India-Pakistan clash will be played on September 2nd in Kandy and if things go to script, they could end up meeting twice more. If there are no upsets in the group stage, India and Pakistan will meet again in the Super Four stage and if both teams finish in the top-2, they will set up a blockbuster final – their third meeting in the tournament’s history.
History
India are the most successful team in the history of the Asia Cup, winning the title seven times – 1984, 1988, 1990-91, 1995, 2010, 2016 and 2018. Sri Lanka were winners 5 times – 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014 and 2022 and Pakistan twice (2000, 2012).
Groups
Group A: India, Pakistan and Nepal
Group B: Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh
SCHEDULE
1st Match, Group A – Wednesday, August 30th – Pakistan vs Nepal, Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan
10:00 AM GMT | 3:30 PM IST | 03:00 PM LOCAL
2nd Match, Group B – Thursday, August 31st – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele
07:30 AM GMT | 1:00 PM IST | 01:00 PM LOCAL
3rd Match, Group A – Saturday, September 2nd – Pakistan vs India, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele
07:30 AM GMT | 1:00 PM IST | 01:00 PM LOCAL
4th Match, Group B – Sunday, September 3rd – Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
08:00 AM GMT | 1:30 PM IST | 01:00 PM LOCAL
5th Match, Group A – Monday, September 4th – India vs Nepal, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele
07:30 AM GMT | 1:00 PM IST | 01:00 PM LOCAL
6th Match, Group B – Tuesday, September 5th – Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
10:00 AM GMT | 3:30 PM IST | 03:00 PM LOCAL
SUPER FOURS
1st Match – Wednesday, September 6th – A1 vs B2, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
10:00 AM GMT | 3:30 PM IST | 03:00 PM LOCAL
2nd Match – Saturday, September 9th – B1 vs B2, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
08:30 AM GMT | 2:00 PM IST | 02:00 PM LOCAL
3rd Match – Sunday, September 10th – A1 vs A2, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
08:30 AM GMT | 2:00 PM IST | 02:00 PM LOCAL
4th Match – Tuesday, September 12th – A2 vs B1, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
08:30 AM GMT | 2:00 PM IST | 02:00 PM LOCAL
5th Match – Thursday, September 14th – A1 vs B1, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
08:30 AM GMT | 2:00 PM IST | 02:00 PM LOCAL
6th Match – Friday, September 15th – A2 vs B2, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
08:30 AM GMT | 2:00 PM IST | 02:00 PM LOCAL
FINAL
Sunday, September 17th – TBC vs TBC, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
08:30 AM GMT | 2:00 PM IST | 02:00 PM LOCAL
SQUADS
India: Ranked No.3 in the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings. India won its last ODI series 2-1 against West Indies in the Caribbean after losing to Australia 1-2 at home. They started 2023 with wins over Sri Lanka and New Zealand 3-0 at home. India have won 9 of its 12 matches this year.
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, and Sanju Samson (back up)
Pakistan: placed 1st in the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings, the Babar Azam-led side played 8 ODIs this year – all at home and all against New Zealand – and won 5. It followed losing a three-match series 1-2 against the Black Caps in January before the 4-1 win in May. This before whitewashing Afghanistan 3-0 in the just concluded 3-match ODI series in Sri Lanka.
Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi
Sri Lanka: The host won the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier event in Zimbabwe – where it won all eight of its matches – albeit against lower-ranked oppositions. It is on a 10-match unbeaten streak in ODIs, but began the year with 0-3 and 0-2 series defeats against India and New Zealand, respectively. It lost to Afghanistan in the first ODI of a three-match series at home before bouncing back to clinch it 2-1.
Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Samara Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theeksana, Dunith Wellalage, Matheesa Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushan Hemantha, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan
Bangladesh: The Tigers beat India in a 3-match series 2-1 last year, lost to England 1-2 (both at home) and beat Ireland 2-0 in back-to-back series, first at home and then away. They then went on to a shock 1-2 defeat against Afghanistan at home last month.
Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Litton Das, Tanzid Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Sheikh Mahedi, Nasum Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Naim Sheikh
Standby players: Taijul Islam, Saif Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
Afghanistan: Coming off a 0-3 whitewashing by Pakistan in the just concluded 3-match ODI series in Sri Lanka followed a remarkable 2-1 series win in Bangladesh after upsetting Sri Lanka in the first match of a three-match series earlier this year. The perennial dark horses have played just 9 ODIs in 2023. They just may be a little short of match practice for the Asia Cup.
Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Riaz Hasan, Ikram Ali Khil, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Suliman Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Nepal: 15th-ranked Nepal will be led by 20-year old Rohit Paudel. The team has won 15 of the 20 matches they played this year including a class showing at the World Cup League 2 event where they won 11 of the last 12 matches to secure qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. This is Nepal’s big chance to finally showcase their brand of cricket on the big stage.
Rohit Paudel (captain), Mahamad Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Aarif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Pratish GC, Kishor Mahato, Sundeep Jora, Arjun Saud, Shyam Dhakal
