ACC OFFICIALLY ACCEPTS PCB’S HYBRID MODEL – SCHEDULE AND DATES FOR ASIA CUP 2023 ANNOUNCED
SCHEDULE AND DATES FOR ASIA CUP 2023:
It is officially announced by the Asian Cricket Council that Pakistan and Srilanka will co-host the 2023 Asia Cup and since 2008, this will be the first time that Asia Cup will be played in Pakistan.
Asian Cricket Council has announced that the Asia Cup 2023 will be held as scheduled and the tournament will be played as proposed by the Hybrid Model – now after this official announcement all teams will tour Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup which includes Srilanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Pakistan will play matches in Pakistan.
BCCI stood on their stance as they were adamant that their team will not tour Pakistan and now even though all teams will play one match in Pakistan but still Indian Cricket Team will not tour Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup later this year.
ASIA CUP 2023 SCHEDULE:
The Asia Cup 2023 tournament will be hosted as per the proposed Hybrid Model and as proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board, the four matches of the Asia Cup 2023 will be held in Pakistan and the remaining nine matches will be played in Srilanka.
Asian Cricket Council announced that there will a total of 13 ODI matches will be played in this year’s Asia Cup and these matches will be played from 31ST AUGUST, 2023 to 17TH SEPTEMBER, 2023 later this year in Pakistan and Srilanka.
- THE FIRST FOUR MATCHES OF THE TOURNAMENT WILL BE HELD IN PAKISTAN AT THE GADAFFI CRICKET STADIUM, LAHORE.
- THE NEXT NINE MATCHES OF THE TOURNAMENT WILL BE PLAYED IN SRILANKA, INCLUDING THE MATCHES OF THE INDIAN TEAM.
- PAKISTAN AND INDIA WILL ALSO PLAY AGAINST EACH OTHER IN SRILANKA.
ASIA CUP 2023 MATCHES SCHEDULED IN PAKISTAN:
As proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board, out of the 13 matches in the Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan will host four matches in this year’s Asia Cup, and those four matches are expected to be played in Lahore which are as follows;
| PAKISTAN VS NEPAL |
| BANGLADESH VS AFGHANISTAN |
| SRILANKA VS AFGHANISTAN |
| BANGLADESH VS SRILANKA |
PCB AND BCCI STANCE ON ASIA CUP 2023:
Pakistan is officially the host of the tournament and in an ideal case Pakistan should’ve hosted the full tournament in their country but now under these circumstances, PCB is considering this acceptance of the Hybrid Model as a win against BCCI and Indian Board wanted the whole tournament to be moved out of Pakistan.
Indian Cricket Board announced that they will not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 and there were many speculations that this year’s Asia Cup 2023 might not take place but Pakistan Cricket Board ensured that every team gets the number of matches for preparation for the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup and even though they wanted the whole tournament in Pakistan but still PCB made some changes in their stance and they gave two models for the successful hosting of the 2023 Asia Cup.
- IN THE FIRST MODEL, THERE WAS AN OPTION THAT INDIA MIGHT PLAY THEIR MATCHES AT A NEUTRAL VENUE WITH THE REST OF THE MATCHES TO BE PLAYED IN PAKISTAN.
- IN THE SECOND MODEL, IT WAS PROPOSED BY THE PAKISTAN CRICKET BOARD THAT THEY WANT FOUR MATCHES TO BE HELD IN PAKISTAN AND THE REST OF THE MATCHES CAN BE PLAYED AT A NEUTRAL VENUE.
Now, Asian Cricket Council on Thursday has officially accepted the second model of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and the tournament is officially announced in SEPTEMBER.
NAJAM SETHI THANKED ACC AND BCCI:
The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi thanked the Asian Cricket Council for accepting the Hybrid Model of the Asia Cup 2023 which was proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
‘’ I am very happy that our hybrid model for the Asia Cup 2023 is accepted by ACC. This means that PCB remains as event host and the matches will be played in Pakistan and Srilanka as a neutral venue, which was required due to the unavailability of the Indian Cricket Team in Pakistan ‘’ Najam Sethi added.
The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board also threw his back behind the Indian Board as he said that he understands the position of the BCCI but he would’ve loved to see Indian Cricket Team in Pakistan.
‘’ Our passionate fans would have loved to see the Indian Team in Pakistan after 15 years for the first time in Pakistan, but we understand the BCCI’s position as BCCI requires government approval to play cricket in Pakistan ‘’, he further added.
‘’ I appreciate the efforts of ACC President Jay Shah to strengthen the council so that we can collectively continue to protect each other’s interest and also provide opportunities and platforms to emerging Asian nations ‘’’, he concluded.
