India, Pakistan in same group for Asia Cup 2023; ACC releases calendar for next two years

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are in the same group for the Asia Cup 2023, confirmed Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah on Thursday. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah on Thursday announced the cricket calendar of the council for 2023 and 2024 and a pathway structure for qualification to the Men’s and Women’s Asia Cup. “Presenting the @ACCMedia1 pathway structure & cricket calendars for 2023 & 2024! This signals our unparalleled efforts & passion to take this game to new heights. With cricketers across countries gearing up for spectacular performances, it promises to be a good time for cricket!,” tweeted Shah.

Presenting the @ACCMedia1 pathway structure & cricket calendars for 2023 & 2024! This signals our unparalleled efforts & passion to take this game to new heights. With cricketers across countries gearing up for spectacular performances, it promises to be a good time for cricket! pic.twitter.com/atzBO4XjIn

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) January 5, 2023

As per the new calendar, 2023 will start off with Men’s Challengers Cup, a ten-team fifty-over tournament. This tournament will feature 10 teams, out of which eight are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Maldives, Thailand, and Iran. Two teams are yet to be named. There will be two groups of five teams each. A total of 23 matches will be played. In March, a Men’s Under-16 Regional tournament will be held. The tournament will feature eight teams, region-wise. The winners and runners-up of the aforementioned Men’s Challengers Cup will qualify for Men’s Premier Cup, a 50-over tournament. This competition will be played in April and will span 24 matches. There will be ten teams divided into two groups of five matches. The teams confirmed for the tournament are UAE, Nepal, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. In June, a Women’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be held. It will feature eight teams, divided into groups of two each. One group will feature India A, Pakistan A, Thailand, and Hong Kong. The other group will have teams like Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh A, UAE, and Malaysia. Next up will be Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup, a 50-over tournament. The top-three teams of the tournament will qualify for this tournament. This competition will have eight teams, divided into two groups of four each. The first group will feature India A, Pakistan A, Sri Lanka A and Qualifier 1. The other group will have Afghanistan A, Bangladesh A, and Qualifiers 2 and 3. This tournament will have 15 matches. In August, a Men’s L2 Coaching Course and a Curators Workshop will be held. The men’s Asia Cup, the main tournament of ACC, will be held in September. It will feature six teams, divided into two groups of three teams. India, Pakistan, and Qualifier 1 (the winner of Men’s Premier Cup) are in one group while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are in the other. A total of 13 matches will be held in the tournament. In October, November, and December, one tournament each for Men’s Under 19 Cricket will be held. A Challengers Cup will kick off things for Under-19 cricketers in October. The tournament will feature 10 matches and will be divided into groups of five each. In the first group will be Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, and a Qualifier. The other group will have Myanmar, Maldives, Thailand, Iran, and Qualifier 2. Men’s Under-19 Premier Cup will be held in November, which will feature ten teams. The first group will feature UAE, Kuwait, Nepal, Qatar, and Qualifier 1. The next group will have Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and a second qualifier. It will feature the winner of the Challengers Cup. In December will be held the Men’s Asia Cup at the under-19 level, featuring the winner, runner up, and a third-place finish team from Premier Cup. Teams confirmed for this tournament are, India, Pakistan in Group 1 along with two qualifiers and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan final qualifier in Group 2. The year 2024 will start off with Men’s T20 Challenger Cup in February and the Women’s T20 Challenger Cup in March. In men’s tournament will feature Asian cricket’s associate teams ranking from 14 to 23, while associate teams ranked from nine to 18 will be in the women’s tournament. The winner and runner-up of this tournament will be qualifying for Men’s and Women’s T20 Premier Cup, to be held in April and May respectively. The men’s tournament will have 10 teams, all associate teams ranking from 6-13 along with qualifiers. The women’s tournament will have six teams, featuring associate teams ranked from five to eight and two qualifiers. In August, a Men’s L3 coaching course and A Curators Workshop will be held. In September and October, the Women’s T20 Asia Cup and Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup will be held. The top two teams of the Women’s Premier Cup will join the T20 Asia Cup. It will have 16 matches and six teams, divided into two groups of three each. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh will be in one group while the other will have Sri Lanka and two qualifiers. The Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup in October will have eight teams. In one group will be India, Pakistan, Qualifier 1 and 2 and the other group will have Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Qualifier 3. The Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be held in December after an Umpires Workshop in November. This tournament will feature the top three teams from the Under-19 Premier Cup and overall eight teams, divided in two groups of four teams. India A, Pakistan A, Sri Lanka A, and Qualifier 1. The other group will feature Bangladesh A, Afghanistan A, and Qualifiers 2 and 3. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.