The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah confirmed on Thursday that India and Pakistan are in the same group for the Asia Cup 2023. This comes as the Asian Cricket Council announces the calendar for the next two years. India and Pakistan are archrivals.
Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), made an announcement on Thursday regarding the cricket calendar of the council for the years 2023 and 2024 as well as a structure for a pathway to qualify for the Men’s and Women’s Asia Cups.
It’s going to be a good time for cricket, with players from all over the world getting ready to give spectacular performances!” Shah tweeted.
The Men’s Challengers Cup, a fifty-over tournament featuring ten teams, will be the first event on the new calendar in 2023. There will be ten teams competing in this tournament, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, the Maldives, Thailand, and Iran. Two teams haven’t been named yet. Each of the two groups will consist of five teams.
Men’s Premier Cup, a 50-over competition, will be played by the winners and runners-up of the Men’s Challengers Cup mentioned earlier. 24 matches will be played in this competition in April. Ten teams will compete in five-game groups of two. UAE, Nepal, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia are the confirmed tournament teams.
A Women’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup will take place in June. There will be eight teams, each of which will be split into two groups. India A, Pakistan A, Thailand, and Hong Kong will be in one group. Teams like Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh A, UAE, and Malaysia will be in the other group.
The 50-over Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup will take place next. This tournament will be open to the top three teams in the tournament. There will be eight teams competing, split into two groups of four. India A, Pakistan A, Sri Lanka A, and Qualifier 1 will make up the first group. Afghanistan A, Bangladesh A, and Qualifiers 2 and 3 will make up the other group. There will be 15 matches in this tournament.
In September, the ACC’s main men’s tournament, the Asia Cup, will take place. Six teams will compete, split into two groups of three each. One group includes India, Pakistan, and Qualifier 1, the Men’s Premier Cup champion, while the other group includes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The tournament will feature 13 matches in all.
Men’s Under-19 Cricket will participate in one tournament each in October, November, and December. In October, the Under-19 cricketers will get things started with a Challengers Cup. There will be ten matches in the tournament, and each group will have five matches. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, and a qualifier will be in the first group. Myanmar, the Maldives, Thailand, Iran, and Qualifier 2 will make up the other group.
In November, ten teams will compete in the Men’s Under-19 Premier Cup. The UAE, Kuwait, Nepal, Qatar, and Qualifier 1 will make up the first group. Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and a second qualifier will make up the next group. It will feature the Challengers Cup winner.
The men’s under-19 Men’s Asia Cup will be held in December, featuring the Premier Cup winner, runner-up, and third-place team. India, Pakistan, and two qualifiers are confirmed to participate in this tournament. In Group 2, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan are the final qualifiers.
The Men’s T20 Challenger Cup and the Women’s T20 Challenger Cup will kick off the year 2024 in February and March, respectively. Asian cricket associate teams ranked 14 to 23 will compete in the men’s tournament, while associate teams ranked nine to 18 will compete in the women’s tournament.
The Men’s and Women’s T20 Premier Cups, which will be held in April and May, will be qualified for by the winners and runners-up of this competition. There will be 10 teams competing in the men’s tournament, with qualifiers and all associate teams ranked 6-13. There will be six teams competing in the women’s tournament, including two qualifiers and associate teams ranked five to eight.
A Curators Workshop and a Men’s L3 coaching course will be held in August the Women’s T20 Asia Cup and Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup will take place in September and October. The T20 Asia Cup will include the top two teams from the Women’s Premier Cup. Six teams and 16 matches will be played in two groups of three each. One group will include Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, while the other group will include Sri Lanka and two qualifiers.
Eight teams will compete in the Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup in October. India, Pakistan, and Qualifiers 1 and 2 will be in one group, while Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Qualifier 3 will be in the other.
After the Umpires Workshop in November, the Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup will take place in December. The top three teams from the Under-19 Premier Cup and eight teams in total, split into two groups of four teams, will compete in this tournament. Sri Lanka A, India A, Pakistan A, and Qualifier 1. Bangladesh A, Afghanistan A, and Qualifiers 2 and 3 will make up the other group.