Asia Cup 2023: Pakistan To Host Tournament But India Matches At Neutral Venue

Pakistan will host majority of Asia Cup 2023 matches but only India’s ties in the tournament are likely to be held at an overseas and neutral venue.

Source: Twitter

The Asia Cup 2023 in September this year is set to take place in a very unique manner. For the first time in the history of the tournament, Pakistan will be the hosts of the event but Team India’s matches will take place at a neutral venue – away from Pakistan.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are in a tussle over the hosting rights for Asia Cup as India have refused to travel to Pakistan for the tournament. Pakistan remain adamant that they are the hosts of the 2023 edition and refused to move the entire tournament to some neutral venue.

According to ESPNCricinfo website, PCB and BCCI are working on a middle path which means Pakistan will host majority of matches but only India’s ties in the Asia Cup are likely to be held at an overseas and neutral venue. “The overseas venue is not confirmed but the UAE, Oman, Sri Lanka and even England are potential contenders to host five matches including at least two India-Pakistan contests,” the report read.

India and Pakistan are grouped together along with a qualifier in the six-nation Asia Cup 2023, scheduled to be held in the first half of September this year and in a 50-over format since it will be followed by the 50-over ICC World Cup 2023 from October 5. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are part of the other group.

A total of 13 matches will be played across 13 days including the final. According to the format for the Asia Cup 2022, the top two teams from each group advance to the Super 4s and the top two teams then face off in the final. The possibility of India and Pakistan playing three times remains like in 2022.

The ACC Men's Premier Cup - an integral part of ACC's new pathway structure gets underway on the 18th of April in Nepal. 10 Associate nations will battle it out for the title and the winner will directly qualify for the Men's Asia Cup 2023. #ACCMensPremierCup #ACC pic.twitter.com/P9ybK6W4qs — AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) March 23, 2023

In Asia Cup 2022, which was in a T20 format, India and Pakistan faced off twice with India winning the league stage match but losing the Super 4 tie. Defending champions India failed to reach the final in 2022 with Pakistan and Sri Lanka vying for the title. The Lankans clinched the Asia Cup crown last year.

Last October, the PCB was caught off guard by Shah who said that the 2023 Asia Cup would be held in a ‘neutral’ venue. The PCB, then under Ramiz Raja – Sethis’s predecessor – immediately responded that Pakistan would pull out of the tournament altogether if it was taken out of the country. Sethi reiterated that stance both in the Bahrain and Dubai rounds of discussions. Shah said he had made the statement in his capacity as the ACC president.

During the Bahrain meeting, the BCCI pointed out that as hosts it had successfully conducted the 2018 edition of Asia Cup at a neutral venue – in the UAE – after it became clear Pakistan could not travel to India due to the strained political ties between the two neighbouring countries.

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that India should not travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023. According to him, there are a lot of risks involved which have to be considered before making any decision.

“India shouldn’t travel to Pakistan as it isn’t safe there and why are we taking risk of travelling when their own people do not feel secure in their country?” Harbhajan Singh told ANI news agency.