The biggest cricket carnival in Asia is set to kick off on August 30. The Asia Cup will start with a game between hosts Pakistan and debutant Nepal at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. With less than 24 hours to go into the game today, we will share every single detail about the tournament to make it more entertaining and engaging for you.
This year’s Asia Cup will feature six teams, which will be divided into two groups. Group A will feature arch-rivals India and Pakistan, along with debutants Nepal. Meanwhile, in Group B, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh will face each other in the group stage. One special thing about this year’s tournament is that it will be organised in a hybrid model. In which Pakistan and Sri Lanka will host games together.
Click here for the full schedule of the Asia Cup 2023
| Matches | Date | Time | Venue |
| PAKISTAN vs NEPAL | Wed Aug 30, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Multan |
| BANGLADESH vs SRI LANKA | Thur Aug 31, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Kandy |
| PAKISTAN vs INDIA | Sat Sep 2, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Kandy |
| BANGLADESH vs AFGHANISTAN | Sun Sep 3, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Lahore |
| INDIA vs NEPAL | Mon Sep 4, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Kandy |
| AFGHANISTAN vs SRI LANKA | Tue Sep 5, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Lahore |
| PAKISTAN vs BANGLADESH | Wed Sep 6, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Lahore |
| SRI LANKA vs BANGLADESH | Sat Sep 9, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Colombo |
| PAKISTAN vs INDIA | Sun Sep 10, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Colombo |
| INDIA vs SRI LANKA | Tue Sep 12, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Colombo |
| PAKISTAN vs SRI LANKA | Thur Sep 14, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Colombo |
| INDIA vs BANGLADESH | Fri Sep 15, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Colombo |
| T.B.C. vs T.B.C | Sun Sep 17, 2023 | 3:00 PM | Colombo |
History of the Asia Cup:
Asia Cup 2023 will be the 16th edition of the continental tournament. Out of the last 15 editions, two have been played in the T20 format, including last year’s tournament. Another T20I edition was hosted by Bangladesh in 2016, which India won at the last ball. India is the most successful team in the tournament, with seven trophies.
They are being closely followed by Sri Lanka, which has six trophies. The other two editions have been won by Pakistan. Teams like Bangladesh and Afghanistan have yet to win the continental tournament. In the last three out of five tournaments, Bangladesh have qualified for the finals, but they failed to make it to the winning side.
Click here for a list of all the winners of the Asia Cup
Asia Cup winners |
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| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Hosting Country |
| 1984 | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
| 1986 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| 1988 | India | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
| 1991 | India | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
| 1995 | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
| 1997 | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
| 2000 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
| 2004 | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
| 2008 | Sri Lanka | India | Pakistan |
| 2010 | India | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka |
| 2012 | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
| 2014 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Bangladesh |
| 2016 | India | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
| 2018 | India | Bangladesh | UAE |
| 2022 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | UAE |
| 2023 | India | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka |
Asia Cup 2023: Squad updates
A day before the tournament, India and Sri Lanka announced their final squads for the tournament. India head coach Rahul Dravid revealed that star wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul will miss the group stage of the tournament. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka announced a 15-member squad after assessing the injuries and availability of almost half a dozen players.
Final squad for the tournament by team:
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Suliman Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Kumer Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Naim Sheikh, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling reserve).
Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish GC, Mousom Dhakal, Sundeep Jora, Kishore Mahato, Arjun Saud
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve).
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis (vc), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushan Hemantha, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan.
Interesting facts about Asia Cup:
- The Asia Cup was first organised in 1983 after the foundation of the Asia Cricket Council.
- In the first edition of the tournament, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka participated, with India winning the tournament.
- India skipper Rohit Sharma has participated in the most number of editions (8) till now and has won the most number of trophies (3) too.
- Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya has scored the most runs in the ODI edition. He leads the chart with 1200+ runs.
- Another Sri Lanka legend, Muttiah Muralitharan, has the most wickets (36) in tournament history.