PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) announced the schedule of Asia Cup 2023 after ACC (Asian Cricket Council) accepts the hybrid model proposed by the PCB. India vs Pakistan game is set to take place on September 02 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Pakistan Cricket Team will start the tournament along with Nepal Cricket Team in a tournament opener on August 30 in Multan.
The Asia Cup 2023 schedule announcement came on Wednesday (July 19) after PCB’s managing committee Chairman Zaka Ashraf met with Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab Wahab Riaz, former captains Waqar Younis, Mohammad Hafeez, Abdur Rehman, and officials of the PCB.
ACC’s approval of the hybrid model
At first, the BCCI rejected going to Pakistan to play the Asia Cup 2023, citing government restrictions. After that, the PCB suggested the hybrid model, which states that four games will be played in Pakistan, and the rest of the tournament will be played in another country. All of India’s games will be played outside of Pakistan.
But the BCCI, along with SL Cricket Board also rejected this approach at first. Finally, the PCB got the approval from ACC and now Pakistan will host 4 games of Asia Cup 2023.
Pakistan hosting 4 games, and Sri Lanka will host 9
A total of 13 games will be played in Asia Cup 2023. The tournament opener, which will be played between Pakistan Cricket Team and Nepal Cricket Team, will be hosted in Multan. This is the only game (out of 4) that Multan will host in Pakistan. The other three games, including one game of Super 4s on September 06, will be played in Lahore.
Sri Lanka will host the other 9 games across two different venues (Kandy and Colombo) including the final. Kandy will host three games in the first stage of Asia Cup 2023. And Colombo will host the last 5 Super 4s games and the final on September 17 as well.
India vs Pakistan in Asia Cup 2023
Asia Cup 2023: The Indian Cricket Team will lock horns against the arch-rival Pakistan on September 02 in Kandy. It will be an interesting contest as both countries have a long history of arch-rivalry. Both will look to win that game and the pressure will be on both sides to fulfil the expectations of their fans.
India-Pakistan is always a high-pressure game with the team who controls their nerves will come out good in the end.
3 encounters are expected between the two in Asia Cup 2023
Other than the first stage, we can expect two more games between India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023. Unless Nepal makes an upset and won the game against India and/or Pakistan in the first stage, India and Pakistan will make it to the Super 4s. The chances of Nepal making an upset is highly unlikely. So we can expect India-Pakistan’s 2nd game in Super 4s.
Now, if both India and Pakistan will make it to the finals of Asia Cup 2023, we will see the 3rd India vs Pakistan game as well. Although, till now, India and Pakistan haven’t played the final in Asia Cup history. Let’s see what happens this time around.
India vs Pakistan Head to Head (In Asia Cup)
Both teams played against each other in Asia Cups 16 times. Out of which, Indian Cricket Team won 9 games and Pakistan Cricket Team managed to win 5 games.
Clearly, India has the upper hand when it comes to the Asia Cup.
Asia Cup record (ODI and T20I formats)
If we break down the record of the Asia Cup between the teams on a format basis, they played 13 games in an ODI format. Out of which, India won 7 games while Pakistan managed to win 5. One game (in 1997) ended with no result.
In the T20 format, they played against each other 3 times in Asia Cup. India is also ahead in this with 2-1. Their last Asia Cup encounter came in 2022 (in T20I format), in which Pakistan won by 5 wickets while chasing a target of 182.
Considering the ICC ODI World Cup later this year in India, the Asia Cup 2023 will be played in ODI format. In the last few years, we have seen some close encounters between the two teams. Let’s see who will come out good this time.
Overall record of India vs Pakistan in ODIs:-
Out of the 132 games they played against each other in ODIs, Pakistan has come out victorious in 73 games. While India has managed to win 55 games. The other games ended with no results.
So overall, Pakistan has the upper hand in ODI encounters. But Pakistan hasn’t won any single game in ICC ODI World Cups against India. They won the last ODI game against India in the ICC Champions Trophy Final 2017. They won the game by a big margin of 180 runs after scoring 338 in the first inning. F Zaman scored a century for Pakistan and the bowlers did the job for them by restricting India to just 158.
Conclusion
The fans are waiting to see how this game unfolds. What are your predictions for September 02? Comment down below.
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