Asia Cup 2023 is just around the corner. The tournament will begin on August 30 and will be a major test for all teams ahead of the World Cup 2023, which is set to start on 5 October. Six teams will be taking part in the tournament- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The Asia Cup will take place in Sri Lanka and Pakistan and the competition will be played in the 50-over format. Here is all you need to know about the Asia Cup.
History of the prestigious Asia Cup:
The tournament first took place in the year 1984. Only 3 teams that is Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India participated. India were the inaugural champions under the captaincy of Sunil Gavaskar. The tournament has had 15 editions since then, out of which India have won the most number of trophies. The Men in Blue have lifted the trophy seven times. Sri Lanka are the runners-up in terms of number of trophies, having won six titles. They are also the defending champions. Pakistan emerged victorious twice, the last of which was in 2012.
Asia Cup winners list:
| Year | Winner | Runners-up | Host | Format |
| 1984 | India | Sri Lanka | UAE | ODI |
| 1986 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | ODI |
| 1988 | India | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | ODI |
| 1990–91 | India | Sri Lanka | India | ODI |
| 1995 | India | Sri Lanka | UAE | ODI |
| 1997 | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka | ODI |
| 2000 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | ODI |
| 2004 | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka | ODI |
| 2008 | Sri Lanka | India | Pakistan | ODI |
| 2010 | India | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | ODI |
| 2012 | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Bangladesh | ODI |
| 2014 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Bangladesh | ODI |
| 2016 | India | Bangladesh | Bangladesh | T20 |
| 2018 | India | Bangladesh | UAE | ODI |
| 2022 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | UAE | T20 |
The Asia Cup hosts and format:
Pakistan are the official hosts of the tournament but only four out of 13 matches will be played in Pakistan with the rest taking place in Sri Lanka. This decision was taken after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to play the tournament in Pakistan due to the political tensions between the two nations.
The Asia Cup 2023 will see the return of the ODI format because of the upcoming ODI World Cup. Last year it was played in the T20 format.
The tournament will have two groups with three teams each who will play each other in a single round-robin format. One team will be eliminated from each group after the group stage. The remaining teams will face off against each other in Super Four.
The top two teams from the Super Four will then play each other in the finals
The groups are:
Group A – India, Pakistan and Nepal
Group B – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan
Asia Cup 2023 schedule:
August 30: Pakistan vs Nepal, Multan, 3:30 PM IST
August 31: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Pallekele, 1 PM IST
September 2: Pakistan vs India, Pallekele, 1 PM IST
September 3: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Lahore, 1:30 PM IST
September 4: India vs Nepal, Pallekele, 1 PM IST
September 5: Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, Lahore, 3:30 PM IST
September 6: A1 vs B2, Lahore, 3:30 PM IST
September 9: B1 vs B2, Colombo, 2 PM IST
September 10: A1 vs A2, Colombo, 2 PM IST
September 12: A2 vs B1, Colombo, 2 PM IST
September 14: A1 vs B1, Colombo, 2 PM IST
September 15: A2 vs B2, Colombo, 2 PM IST
September 17: TBC vs TBC, Colombo, 2 PM IST
Asia Cup 2023 LIVE streaming in India and other countries:
In India, the Asia Cup 2023 matches will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network. The live streaming will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar website and app.
In Pakistan, PTV Sports and Ten Sports will show the Asia Cup 2023 matches live.
In Sri Lanka, SLRC Network and Star Sports will telecast the Asia Cup 2023 matches.
In Afghanistan, the Asia Cup 2023 matches will be shown live on Ariana TV.
In Bangladesh, Asia Cup 2023 matches will be telecast on Ghazi TV.
In Nepal, Star Sports network will be showing Asia Cup 2023 matches.
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Here are the squads for Asia Cup 2023 of all teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Travelling Reserve- Sanju Samson
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Tayyib Tahir (travelling reserve).
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Naim, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan and Tanzim Hasan.
Nepal: Rohit Paudel (captain), Mahamad Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Aarif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Pratish GC, Kishor Mahato, Sundeep Jora, Arjun Saud, Shyam Dhakal.
Sri Lanka: Yet to be announced.
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Fazalhaq Farooqi
