The Asia Cup 2023 is likely to be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is set to approve the hybrid model proposed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). As per the model, as many as 5 games would be played in Pakistan while the India vs Pakistan matches, even if the two teams qualify for the final, will be held in Sri Lanka.
According to ESPN Cricinfo, the announcement is to be made later this week. The window reserved for the tournament currently is between September 1-17. For the Pakistan leg, the games are likely to be played in Lahore.
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The tournament was initially scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September. However, ACC President Jay Shah made it clear that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan for the continental championship, demanding it to be moved to a neutral venue.
In response, PCB threatened to boycott the ODI World Cup 2023 which will be played later this year in India.
Thus came the concept of the hybrid model which was earlier proposed as a solution after India and Pakistan were unwilling to travel to each other’s countries. Pakistan initially offered UAE as the makeshift venue but Bangladesh raised concerns over the extreme weather in the middle east in September.
With the probable approval of the Hybrid model, there is a possibility for an agreement that could ease Pakistan’s travel to India for the ICC World Cup.
India and Pakistan have been grouped together along with Nepal in the six-nation Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in the 50-over format as preparation for the World Cup. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are in the other group.
The Asia Cup is likely to witness 13 matches to be played across 13 days. The top two teams from each group will advance to a Super 4s round, before the top two teams from that contest the final, just like the 2022 format.
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