Asia Cup New Updates 2023 Pakistan
The 2023 Asia Cup (also known as Super 11 Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1][2] will be the 16th edition of the Asia Cup, with the matches to be played as One Day Internationals (ODIs), and it will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka.[3] The tournament will be played by 6 teams.[4] It is scheduled to be held in August and September 2023.[5] Sri Lanka are the defending champions.[6] It will be the first Asia Cup to be co-hosted by multiple countries; four matches will be played in Pakistan, and the remaining nine matches will be played in Sri Lanka.[7][8]
It is the first time Pakistan are hosting Asia Cup since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka National cricket team in Pakistan, in which many players was injured and the team was immediately evacuated from there through helicopter.[9]
The five full members of the Asian Cricket Council will be part of the tournament: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They were joined by Nepal, who qualified by winning the 2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup. First time ever the tournament will be held in "hybrid format" due to it the games will be organised in two countries. Except India, all the teams will play few games in Pakistan. India refused to travel to Pakistan due to the disapproval from the Government of India. India will play all its games in Sri Lanka.[10] [11][9]In January 2023, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the pathway structure and calendar for 2023 and 2024,[12][13] where they confirmed the dates and format of the tournament.[14] Originally, the tournament was scheduled to take place in 2021, but it was postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fixtures for the tournament were announced on 19 July 2023.[15]
The final of the tournament will be held at R. Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka.[16]
Background[edit]
 |
 | This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. (August 2023) |
In June 2020, following a meeting with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said they would be willing to let Sri Lanka host the 2020 Asia Cup,[17] with India unwilling to travel to Pakistan.[18] The ACC issued a press release following the meeting stating that "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".[19] In July 2020, an official announcement of the postponement was made by the ACC.[20] The 2020 edition was rescheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in June 2021.[21]
In March 2021, the tournament was at risk of a further postponement after India qualified for the final of the World Test Championship, which clashed with the proposed dates in June.[22] The tournament was postponed once again to 2023.[23] In May 2021, the ACC announced that the 2021 tournament would be deferred to 2023, citing that it would be difficult to schedule the tournament due to the continued impact of COVID-19 on the scheduling of other cricket events.[24][25] Pakistan was scheduled to host the 2022 Asia Cup after retaining the rights to host the 2022 edition.[26] However, in October 2021, following a meeting with the ACC, Ramiz Raja confirmed that Pakistan would host the tournament in 2023, with Sri Lanka hosting the 2022 edition.[27]
In October 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary and ACC President Jay Shah announced that India would not travel to Pakistan and that Asia Cup 2023 will take place in a neutral venue instead of Pakistan. [28] Indian media cited reasons for BCCI's decision, such as Pakistan's involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Another big reason was the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team in which number of players were wounded.[10] [29][30][31] Despite Pakistan being confirmed as hosts earlier, he (Jay Shah) stated that "the Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue."[32] In reply to this statement, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) requested for an emergency meeting of the ACC board to discuss "this important and sensitive matter". The PCB said that this statement could impact on Pakistan's participation in the 2023 CWC and other ICC events in India in the 2024–2031 cycle, they even threatened to pull out from upcoming 2023 Cricket World Cup, hosted by India.[33][34]
In December 2022, the then PCB chairman Ramiz Raja informed that Pakistan might consider pulling out of this tournament if their hosting rights are withdrawn because of India's unwillingness to travel to Pakistan.[35] However, in January 2023, ACC confirmed the teams and groups of the tournament, with both India and Pakistan taking part.[36]
In March 2023, it was proposed Pakistan remain as hosts and all India matches including at least two India-Pakistan contests to be played at a neutral venue yet to be confirmed.[37] The hybrid model proposed by Pakistan was rejected by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.[38] In response, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi proposed two options. The first option was that India play all their matches at a neutral venue with Pakistan hosting the rest of the teams. The second option was that four matches in the group stage take place in Pakistan whereas the second phase, in which matches played by the Indian team followed by the next stage matches including the final, be played at a neutral venue. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh agreed to the second option.[39]
On 15 June 2023, the Asian Cricket Council announced that the tournament will be hosted in a hybrid model with four matches being held in Pakistan, and the remaining nine matches being played in Sri Lanka.[40]
Format[edit]
The groups and format of the tournament were announced on 9th January 2023, with the six teams split into two groups of three.[41] A total of 13 matches will be played, which includes six league matches, six Super 4 matches, and a final.[42] India, Pakistan and Nepal, champions of the qualifier event (2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup), were placed in Group A, while the defending champions Sri Lanka was grouped with Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Group B.[43] The top two teams from each of the groups will progress to the Super 4. From there, the top two teams will play each other in the final.[44]
Pakistan and India were seeded as A1 & A2 While Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were seeded as B1 & B2. In case Nepal and Afghanistan qualify for the Super Four stage, they will take the slot of the team knocked out (Pakistan or India in Group A and Sri Lanka or Bangladesh in Group B).[11] [45]
Teams and qualification
The five full members qualified automatically for the tournament while Nepal qualified for the main tournament for the first time through 2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup, was held in April/May 2023 in Nepal, defeating UAE in the final.
| Means of qualification | Date | Host | Berths | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICC Full Member | — | None | 5 | |
| 2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup | 18 April — 2 May 2023 |  Nepal | 1 |
Squads[edit]
 Afghanistan[46] |  Bangladesh[47] |  India[48] | Nepal[49] | Pakistan [50] |  Sri Lanka[51] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ahead of the tournament, Ebadot Hossain was ruled out of Bangladesh's squad due to an injury and was replaced by Tanzim Hasan Sakib.[52] Saud Shakeel was added to Pakistan's squad, with Tayyab Tahir moved into the reserves.[53] Sanju Samson was added to India's squad as reserves.[54]
Venues[edit]
 Pakistan |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lahore | Multan | Colombo | Kandy |
| Gaddafi Stadium | Multan Cricket Stadium | R. Premadasa Stadium | Pallekele International Cricket Stadium |
| Capacity: 27,000[55] | Capacity: 30,000[56] | Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 35,000 |
| Matches: 3 | Matches: 1 | Matches: 6 | Matches: 3 |
 |  |  |  |
Match officials[edit]
Asian Cricket Council (ACC) appointed the following match officials for the tournament.[57]
Match referees
Umpires[edit]
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NPR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pakistan (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2 | India | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 3 | Nepal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
0 Comments