India And Pakistan Have Been Placed In The Same Group For The Asia Cup 2023
In early January of 2023, Jay Shah, president of the Asian Cricket Council and Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary, announced on his Twitter account that India and Pakistan are in the same group for the men’s Asian Cup 2023.
Shah shared a detailed cricket calendar for the period of 2023 and 2024, which kicks off with the Men’s Challengers Cup—a ten-team 50-over tournament—followed by the Men’s Under-16 Regional and tournament and Men’s Premier Cup. The calendar also includes a pathway structure for the Men’s and Women’s Asia Cup qualifiers.
“This signals our unparalleled efforts & passion to take this game to new heights. With cricketers across countries gearing up for spectacular performances, it promises to be a good time for cricket,” Shah commented in the same tweet.
The Asian Cup 2023
The Asia Cup 2023 will be a sporting event involving six teams: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and a qualifier team. The first tournament of this kind took place back in 1983 after the foundation of the Asian Cricket Council. With this sporting event, the council sought to promote goodwill amongst Asian nations.
Ever since that initial 1983 tournament, India and Pakistan have faced each other off in the field on numerous occasions. While India emerged victorious on seven editions of the tournament (1984, 1988, 1990/91, 1995, 2010, 2016 and 2018), Pakistan lifted the trophy twice (2000 and 2012).
This year’s Asian Cup will be played in the 50-over and will see teams competing in 13 matches. On this occasion, Pakistan will be hosting the event from the 2nd to the 17th of September 2023.
India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022
The India vs. Pakistan rivalry is the most intense one in the world of cricket, often nicknamed the “El Clásico” of the sport.
In the Asian Cup 2022, India were eliminated in the Super 4 stage by Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Sri Lanka put on a stellar performance, eventually beating the Indian team by six wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Men In Blue would have had a chance to reach the cup’s final if Pakistan lost their matches against both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, which wasn’t the case.
Their bitter rivals, the Green Shirts, fared a lot better by comparison, reaching the Asian Cup 2022 finals. While Pakistan had a great start and dominated the game up to the halfway mark, they were eventually defeated by Sri Lanka, who won the match by 23 runs and lifted the Asian Cup 2022 trophy.
The hosting controversy
Now, India and Pakistan, under the leadership of coaches Rahul Dravid and Saqlain Mushtaq respectively, prepare the face each other off the field again in September of 2023. However, even though there is still plenty of time for the bitter rivals to clash, there has already been a fair share of controversy due to the fact that Pakistan has been chosen as the competition’s official host.
After much speculation on whether the Men In Blue would travel to the neighbouring country for the cup, Shah confirmed that this would not be the case, commenting, “The Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue. I am saying this as ACC President. We [India] can’t go there [to Pakistan], they can’t come here. In the past also, the Asia Cup has been played at a neutral venue.”
It remains to be seen whether the two nations will reach an agreement.
How fans can keep track of the Asian Cup
Cricket enthusiasts can keep up with the Asian Cup news on sportzwiki.com. In addition, online sportsbooks provide overviews of upcoming matches. On these sites, users can review accurate odds, team statistics and access flexible payment methods. Bitcoin can now be used for T20 Asia Cup bettingas well.
