The 2023 Asia Cup is the 16th edition of the tournament and will be played as One Day Internationals in Pakistan by six teams. It is scheduled for September 2023 as a warm-up series for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, and Sri Lanka is the defending champion. The five full members of the Asian Cricket Council, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, will participate, along with the champions of the qualifying tournament.
In January 2023, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) confirmed the dates and format of the tournament as part of its pathway structure and calendar for 2023 and 2024. Originally scheduled for 2021, the tournament was postponed to 2023 due to a crowded schedule, with Pakistan as the host nation.
In March 2023, a resolution was brokered to keep Pakistan as the hosts, and it was decided that all India matches, including at least two India-Pakistan matches, would be played at a neutral venue that has yet to be confirmed.
In 2020, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) held a meeting to discuss hosting the 2020 Asia Cup. However, due to India’s unwillingness to travel to Pakistan, the PCB expressed their willingness to let Sri Lanka host the tournament. The ACC issued a press release stating that possible venue options were being discussed and a final decision would be made in due course, taking into consideration the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact.
In July 2020, the ACC officially announced the postponement of the tournament. It was later rescheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in June 2021. However, in March 2021, the tournament was at risk of being postponed again as India had qualified for the World Test Championship final, which clashed with the proposed dates for the Asia Cup.
Eventually, the tournament was postponed to 2023. The ACC confirmed in May 2021 that there would be no Asia Cup that year, and the tournament was deferred until 2023. Pakistan had initially been scheduled to host the 2022 Asia Cup after retaining the hosting rights, but in October 2021, the decision was made to swap the host countries. Sri Lanka would host the 2022 edition, and Pakistan would host the 2023 Asia Cup.
In summary, the Asia Cup has faced several postponements and venue changes due to various reasons, including COVID-19 and scheduling conflicts with other cricket events. The upcoming 2023 edition will be hosted by Pakistan and feature six teams, with Sri Lanka as the defending champions.
Initially scheduled to take place in 2021, the tournament was postponed twice, with Sri Lanka scheduled to host in 2020 and then in 2021. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other scheduling conflicts, the tournament was eventually deferred to 2023.
In October 2022, the BCCI secretary and ACC President Jay Shah announced that India would not travel to Pakistan for the tournament due to ongoing political tensions between the two countries. The PCB requested an emergency meeting to discuss the matter, as the statement could impact Pakistan’s participation in other ICC events in India in the future. However, in January 2023, the ACC confirmed that both India and Pakistan would participate in the tournament.
The groups and format of the tournament were announced in January 2023, with six teams split into two groups of three. India, Pakistan, and a team from the qualifier tournament were placed in Group A, while defending champions Sri Lanka were grouped with Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super 4 section, where the top two teams will play in the final.
In March 2023, a resolution was brokered, with Pakistan remaining as hosts, but all India matches, including at least two India-Pakistan contests, to be played at a neutral venue yet to be confirmed. The 2023 Asia Cup is the 16th edition of the tournament.The 2023 Asia Cup
