The Asia Cup 2023 schedule was announced by Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and co-hosts Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), three days ago. PCB had organised a special event to announce the schedule. The tournament begins on August 31 and ends with the final on September 17. The tournament is being hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka after India refused to travel to Pakistan because of security concerns. The current PCB boss Zaka Ashraf was also present at the launch of the schedule. He spoke highly of the Pakostani cricket team, saying Babar Azam is the World No 1 batter in the world currently.


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While praising Pakistan cricket team, Zaka ended up making a comical error as well. He had big words for Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi but said that he is among the top 10 batters in the world. 


"There is strength in both our batting and bowling. If you talk about batting, our captain [Babar Azam] is number one [ranked batter] in the world. If you talk about others, then Pakistan batters are among the top-five [in the rankings]," Ashraf said during the ceremony.



"If you talk about Shaheen Shah Afridi, his name comes in the top 10 batters. So, the way Pakistan team is playing, my best wishes are with them," said Zaka.


India and Pakistan likely to meet thrice in Asia Cup


One of the marquee contests in the tournament will be between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. The two team meet each other on September 2 at Kandy in Sri Lanka. Both these sides are likely to qualify as A1 and A2 to the Super 4s, the next stage of the tournament. A2 is India while A1 is Pakistan. The A2 vs A1 contest will be played at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo. Knowing the reputation of these two teams, India and Pakistan are expected to qualify for the next round. Not to forget, India and Pakistan can even qualify for the final and play each other for the third time in the tournament, on September 17 at Colombo.