The Asia Cup 2023 has started between six of the finest teams in the continent. Hosted jointly by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the tournament has returned to the ODIs format after 5 years. In 2018, the tournament was played in ODIs format. Till 2022, no Asia Cup took place due to the pandemic and other restrictions. In 2022, the Asia Cup was played in T20I format as the year had a T20 World Cup in Australia.
As the current year has an ODI World Cup, which will begin in October, the Asia Cup is taking place in the ODI format. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal are taking part in the tournament. India, Pakistan, and Nepal are in Group A and the rest are in Group B. For the first time in 15 years, Pakistan is hosting the Asia Cup. The tournament involves a hybrid model of hosting.
Out of the 13 matches, 4 matches will be played in Pakistan and 9 will be played in Sri Lanka. In the inaugural match of the season, Pakistan beat Nepal comfortably by 238 runs. It was the first Asia Cup match in Pakistan after 15 years. Before the match began, the opening ceremony of the tournament took place, where a couple of performers entertained the crowd with their performances.
Before the opening ceremony, there was a trophy tour of the Asia Cup in the city of Multan. Fans were excited to catch the live action and the opening ceremony of the Asia Cup 2023. In Multan International Stadium, the opening ceremony of the tournament lasted for 15 minutes. It did not seem grand by any stretch, which disappointed the fans. Not just the scale, but even the performances of the performers did not impress the fans.
On the internet, a lot of fans from the host nation expressed their disappointment with a lackluster opening ceremony. The opening ceremony had two performers from two different nations. The first of them was Trishala Gurung from Nepal, who performed well with a traditional outfit and full of grace. The Nepali singer has over 2,39,000 followers on Instagram and has delivered some hits in her country.
It is reported that many of the fans loved the performance of the Nepali star in the opening ceremony of the tournament. The second performer in the opening ceremony was Aima Baig from Pakistan. The renowned singer has more than 6 million followers on Instagram. The audience did not quite like the performance of the Pakistani singer and expressed their disappointment on the same.
Many fans hoped to get better performances in the future. As the fans were disappointed with the opening ceremony, they were treated with the class of Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed, who lit up the tournament with good batting performances. Later, the bowlers of Pakistan were at their usual best and ensured an easy win for the home team.