The 2023 Asia Cup will be the 16th edition of the

Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

, with the matches to be played as

One Day Internationals A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cu ...

(ODIs) in with hosts to be announced. The tournament will be played by 6 teams, and is scheduled to be held in September 2023 as a preparatory series before the

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup will be the 13th edition of the Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is sch ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

are the defending champions. The five full members of the

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council also known as ACC is a cricket organisation which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional ...

will take part in the tournament:

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

. They will be joined by the champions of the qualification tournament. In January 2023, the

(ACC) announced the pathway structure and calendar for 2023 and 2024, where they confirmed the dates and format of the tournament. Originally, the tournament was scheduled to take place in 2021, but was postponed to 2023 due to packed schedule, with Pakistan as the hosts.

Background

In June 2020, following a meeting with the ACC, the PCB said they would be willing to let Sri Lanka host the

2020 Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

, with India unwilling to travel to Pakistan. 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". In July 2020, an official announcement of the postponement was made by the ACC. The 2020 edition was rescheduled to take place in

in June 2021. In March 2021, the tournament was at risk of a further postponement after

qualified for the final of the

World Test Championship In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, which clashed with the proposed dates in June. The tournament postponed once again to 2023. In May 2021, the ACC confirmed that there would be no Asia Cup in 2021, with that edition of the tournament deferred until 2023. Pakistan was scheduled to host the

2022 Asia Cup The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Em ...

after retaining the rights to host the 2022 edition. However, in October 2021, following a meeting with the ACC,

Ramiz Raja Ramiz Hasan Raja ( ur, ; born 14 August 1962) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, commentator, YouTuber, and former cricketer who served as the 35th Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board between September 2021 and December 2022. As a pla ...

confirmed that Pakistan would host the tournament in 2023, with Sri Lanka hosting the 2022 edition. In October 2022, the

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...

secretary and ACC President

Jay Shah Jay Amitbhai Shah (born 22 September 1988) is an Indian businessman and cricket administrator. He became the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary in 2019. He is also the president of Asian Cricket Council. He is the son of Ami ...

said that India wouldn't travel to Pakistan with the ongoing political tension between the two countries. Despite Pakistan being confirmed as hosts earlier, he stated that "the Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue." India last toured Pakistan in 2008 for the

2008 Asia Cup The 2008 Asia Cup (also called Star Cricket Asia Cup) was a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament, held in Pakistan from 24 June to 6 July 2008, at two venues. The six teams which took part in the tournament were India, Pakistan, Sri Lan ...

. In reply to this statement, the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

(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. In December 2022, the then PCB chairman

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. However, in January 2023, ACC confirmed the teams and groups of the tournament, with both India and Pakistan taking part.

Format

The groups and format of the tournament was announced on 5 January 2023, with the six teams split into two groups of three. A total of 13 matches will be played which include six league matches and six Super 4 games.

and a team from qualifier have been placed in Group A, while the defending champions Sri Lanka are grouped with

and

. The top two teams from each of the groups will progress to the Super 4 section of the tournament. From there, the top two teams of the Super 4 section will play each other in the final.

Teams and qualifications

Group stage

Group A

advances to Super Four

Group B

advances to Super Four

Controversy

has refused to go to Pakistan over security concern. However Pakistan denied to relocate Asia Cup to another venue and threatened to boycott upcoming World cup in India.

References

{{International cricket in 2023 Asia Cup International cricket competitions in 2023

International cricket competitions in Pakistan 2023 in Pakistani cricket