The Asia Cup 2023 is a cricket tournament scheduled to be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from 30 August to 17 September 2023. It will be the 15th edition of the Asia Cup, and the first to be held in multiple countries.
The tournament will be contested by six teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. The teams will be divided into two groups of three, with each team playing each other team in their group once. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Four stage, where they will play each other once. The top two teams from the Super Four stage will then play in the final.
The matches will be played in 50-over format. The venues for the matches in Pakistan are Multan International Cricket Stadium and Gaddafi Stadium, while the venues for the matches in Sri Lanka are Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium and Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
India and Pakistan have both confirmed that they will send their teams to the tournament. This will be the first time that India has played a bilateral cricket series in Pakistan since 2012.
The Asia Cup is one of the most important cricket tournaments in the world. It is a chance for the top teams in Asia to compete against each other and to prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup. The 2023 Asia Cup is sure to be a thrilling tournament, and it is one that cricket fans all over the world will be eagerly anticipating.
Here are some of the key details of the Asia Cup 2023:
- Tournament schedule: 30 August to 17 September 2023
- Participating teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal
- Format: 50-over format
- Venues: Multan International Cricket Stadium, Gaddafi Stadium, Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium, and Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
- Final: 17 September 2023, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan
The tournament will be inaugurated on 30 August 2023 with the match between Pakistan and Nepal at the Multan International Cricket Stadium.
The final will be played on 17 September 2023 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan.
- The toss for each match will be held at 08:30 local time.
- The matches will start at 09:30 local time.
- The umpiring panel for the tournament will be announced later
The following are the squads for the Asia Cup 2023:
- Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Ahmed, Naveen-ul-Haq, Usman Ghani, Darwish Rasooli, Qais Ahmad, Afsar Zazai
- Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal (captain), Liton Das (wicket-keeper), Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Khaled Ahmed
- Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Usman Qadir, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Zahid Mahmood
- Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushara, Ramesh Mendis, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lahiru Kumara, Binura Fernando, Janith Liyanage
- Nepal: Sandeep Lamichhane (captain), Kushal Bhurtel, Aarif Sheikh, Prithvi Shaw, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gyanendra Malla, Aasif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Sandeep Jora, Karan KC, Kamal Singh, Binod Bhandari, Lokesh Rajbanshi, Avinash Bohara, Sushan Bhari
The tournament is expected to be a closely fought affair, with all six teams having a chance of winning. The defending champions, Sri Lanka, will be the favorites, but Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh will also be strong contenders. Afghanistan and Nepal will be the underdogs, but they have shown in recent years that they can be competitive against the top teams.