India and Pakistan will feature in the same group in Asia Cup 2023. The development was confirmed by ACC President Jay Shah, who Tweeted the entire roadmap and cricket calendars for 2023 & 2024.
Group 1
Group 2
- Sri Lanka
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
The winner of Men's Premier Cup will join India & Pakistan in Group 1. Last year, it was Hong Kong who won the entire thing and joined India and Pakistan. Although the entire schedule isn't out yet, the competition will be played in September. Sri Lanka won the last edition of Asia Cup.
Clarity on Hosts
Recently there has been a lot of confusion as to who will host Asia Cup. Pakistan was set to host the tournament, but Jay Shah clearly stated that Indian won't travel to Paksiatan, and although Pakistan still remains the official venue, there is a strong possibility of the tournament being shifted to a neutral venue.
"We will obey whatever the government would suggest to us and we will seek the government's advice when the time arrives, similar to the last time I was the chairman. As far as the Asia Cup is concerned, I will go to ACC (Asian Cricket Council) and see what the situation is and we'll take a decision that is in the better interest of the game. We have to see what the other board's position is, we have to play cricket with everyone, and we will not take any step which can cause any isolation," said Newly appointed PCB chief Najam Sethi.
Earlier, Ramiz Raja didn't mince words and said that BCCI can't dictate their teams and threatened the ICC that Pakistan will pull out of the ODI World Cup if India did not travel to Pakistan for the 2023 edition of the Asia Cup. Raja also reiterated having a council meeting with ICC to address the issue while the T20 World Cup was still on.
