The PCB’s hybrid proposal for the Asia Cup, which designates Sri Lanka as the neutral site for India’s games, will be adopted by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
The model predicts that Pakistan will host four of the tournament’s 13 games and maybe five. The final, if India competes, and all of the India-Pakistan games will take place in Sri Lanka.
Asia Cup 2023: ESPNcricinfo will probably formally announce after the weekend. Currently, the competition will take place between September 1 and September 17. The games for the Pakistan leg are most likely to take place in Lahore.
The expected clearance signals a big milestone in a standoff that has jeopardized ICC events, most pressingly the World Cup in India this year and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in 2025, and has carried on for a while. There is now a chance that a deal reached here could make it easier for Pakistan to visit India for the World Cup.
The organizers put forth the hybrid model as a remedy due to the resistance of India and Pakistan to visit each other’s countries. Pakistan chose this arrangement to keep the hosting rights after India declined to tour the country.
In September, Bangladesh voiced its reservations over the harsh weather in the middle east after Pakistan initially proposed the UAE as a second location, noting the lucrative chance for gate receipts during Pakistan-India matches in the tournament.
In a meeting in Dubai a few weeks ago, Pankaj Khimji, the leader of Oman Cricket and the vice president of the ACC, received information on the hybrid model from PCB chairman Najam Sethi. The PCB had suggested the answer to explain why India wouldn’t visit Pakistan for the tournament due to ongoing political issues between the two nations.
“Challenges and Prospects for the Asia Cup: Political Ties, Team Groupings, and Potential Rivalry”
As the tournament’s chosen hosts, the PCB has navigated political ties to ensure that it plays at least part of the tournament in Pakistan, making the road to this solution lengthy and difficult. Sri Lanka wanted to host the full event, and the UAE was a potential neutral site. The BCB and SLC had previously rejected a hybrid model.
The organizers have placed Nepal and India in the same group for the six-nation Asia Cup, which they will play in the 50-over format as part of their World Cup preparation. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are in the opposite group.
A total of 13 games will contest over 13 days, with the final being one of them. The organizers anticipate that the top two teams from each group will proceed to a Super 4s phase, where the top two teams from that round will compete in the final, following a similar structure to that of 2022. If India and Pakistan go to the final, there is a chance that they will face each other three times.