Arch-rivals The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) head Jay Shah stated on Thursday that India and Pakistan will compete against each other in the same group during the Asia Cup 2023.
Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), made the announcement on Thursday regarding the cricket calendar of the council for the years 2023 and 2024 as well as a pathway structure for qualification to the Men’s and Women’s Asia Cup.
“Here is the pathway structure and the cricket calendars for the years 2023 and 2024, courtesy of @ACCMedia1! This demonstrates the unrivalled efforts and enthusiasm we have put into elevating this game to new levels.
It looks like it’s going to be a good moment for cricket, as players from all around the world are getting ready to put on amazing performances “tweets sent out by Shah
The Men’s Challengers Cup, which will feature ten teams competing in the fifty-over age group, will kick off 2023 according to the revised schedule.
There will be a total of ten teams competing in this tournament; Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Maldives, Thailand, and Iran will make up eight of those teams. There are still two teams that need to be selected. There will be two groups, each consisting of five different teams. The tournament will consist of a total of 23 matches.
A regional tournament for male athletes under the age of 16 will take place in the month of March. The competition will include eight teams, each representing a different geographic region.
The aforementioned Men’s Challengers Cup will have its winners and runners-up compete in the Men’s Premier Cup, which is a tournament for players with a score of 50 or above.
This tournament will begin in April and will consist of a total of 24 different matches. There will be a total of ten teams competing, split up into two groups of five each. The United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia are the teams who have been confirmed to compete in the tournament.
The Women’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup will take place in the month of June. There will be a total of eight teams competing, with each group consisting of two teams.
The countries of India A, Pakistan A, Thailand, and Hong Kong will make up one group. Teams like Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh A, United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia will compete in the other group.
The following competition is the Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup, which is a 50-over competition. This competition will be open to the top three teams that finished in the previous tournament. There will be a total of eight teams participating in this competition, which will be broken up into two groups of four each.
The first group will consist of India A, Pakistan A, Sri Lanka A, and the winner of the qualifier. The other group will consist of Afghanistan A, Bangladesh A, as well as qualifiers 2 and 3. This event will consist of fifteen different matches.
In the month of August, there will be a Men’s L2 Coaching Course as well as a Curators Workshop.
In the month of September, the Asia Cup, the most important competition of the Asian Cricket Council, will be played. There will be a total of six teams competing, split into two groups of three teams each. One group consists of India, Pakistan, and the winner of Qualifier 1, which is also the winner of the Men’s Premier Cup. The other group consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The tournament will consist of a total of thirteen matches overall.
One tournament for the men’s under 19 cricket division will be held in each of the months of October, November, and December. In October, the Under-19 cricketers will participate in their first Challengers Cup competition.
The competition will consist of 10 different matches, all of which will be played in groups of five against one another. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, and a Qualifier will make up the first group in the tournament. Myanmar, the Maldives, Thailand, Iran, and Qualifer 2 will make up the members of the other group.
In the month of November, there will be a competition known as the Men’s Under-19 Premier Cup, which will involve ten different teams. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Nepal, Qatar, and the first qualifier will make up the first group.
Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, in addition to a second qualifier, will make up the following group. The champion of the Challengers Cup will compete in this event.
The winning team from the Premier Cup, the team that finished in second place, and the team that came in third place will compete in the under-19 division of the Men’s Asia Cup in December.
The following teams have been confirmed to compete in this tournament: India and Pakistan, together with two qualifiers, will compete in Group 1, and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan will compete in Group 2, the final qualifying spot.
The Men’s Twenty20 Challenger Cup will be held in February of 2024, and the Women’s Twenty20 Challenger Cup will be held in March of that same year. Associate teams with rankings from 14 to 23 in Asian cricket will compete in the men’s tournament, while associate teams with rankings from 9 to 18 in Asian cricket will compete in the women’s tournament.
Both the winner and the runner-up of this competition will receive automatic qualification for the Men’s and Women’s T20 Premier Cups, which will take place in April and May, respectively.
The men’s competition will feature ten teams, all of which will be associate teams ranked between 6 and 13, in addition to qualifiers. The women’s competition will feature a total of six teams: four associate teams with rankings ranging from five to eight, as well as two qualifying teams.