Mumbai, July 19: According to the schedule made public by the Asian Cricket Council on Wednesday, India will begin their Asia Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Kandy on September 2 and face the neighbours in a Super 4 match in Colombo on September 10.
The first match of the six-team ODI competition, which serves as a warm-up for the ICC World Cup, will take place on August 30 in Multan between Pakistan and Nepal, the hosts.
The Asia Cup is being contested in a hybrid format, with four matches taking place in Pakistan and nine others, including the final, taking place in Kandy and Colombo, Sri Lanka.
On September 17, the championship will take place in the Premadasa Stadium.
Group A is made up of India, Pakistan, and Nepal; group B is made up of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
India and Pakistan will both stay in places A1 and A2, according to the statement made by Asian Cricket Council (ACC) head Jay Shah. This is true regardless of where they stand after the first round. Nepal will fill the vacancy if one of them is ineligible.
Similar to Group A, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will continue to play in Positions B1 and B2, respectively. Afghanistan will take the team’s place if any of these teams fail to advance to the Super 4s.
The Indian Cricket Board’s unwillingness to send a team over the border prevented Pakistan from hosting this year’s Asia Cup, even though they were initially supposed to. Thus, Pakistan will host a total of four games, with Sri Lanka hosting the other nine games.
The Rohit Sharma-led squad will have a day off after their match against their bitter rivals in the tournament opener before taking on Nepal on September 4 in Kandy.
Full calendar:
Team stage:
30 August: Multan, Pakistan, vs. Nepal
Kandy, August 31: Bangladesh vs. Sri Lanka
India against. Pakistan, September 2, Kandy
Afghanistan vs. Bangladesh on September 3 in Lahore
India vs. Nepal, September 4, Kandy
Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka on September 5 in Lahore
Stage 4 Super:
Lahore, September 6: A1 vs. B2.
Colombo B1 against. B2 on September 9
A1 versus. A2 on September 10 in Colombo
A2 vs. B1 on September 12 in Colombo
Colombo, September 14: A1 vs. B1.
A2 versus. B2 on September 15 in Colombo
Colombo, September 17: Final. — (PTI)
