Asia Cup 2023: Just another 30 hours left to the beginning of one of the most anticipated cricketing events Asia Cup 2023. This edition of the Asia Cup which is scheduled to be played in a hybrid model, is going to be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This article will lead you to the Asia Cup 2023 Format and Full Roadmap, Qualified Teams and Squads, and the Strongest Playing 11s.
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The tournament will begin on August 30 with the host Pakistan taking on Nepal and will be a major test for all teams ahead of the World Cup 2023, which is set to start on 5 October.
The Aisa Cup has a remarkable history that is rendered in golden words. In 1984, the competition had its inaugural event. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India were the only 3 teams that participated. India won the inaugural title under Sunil Gavaskar’s leadership. Since then, there have been 15 iterations of the competition, with India taking home the most trophies. Seven times, the Men in Blue have raised the trophy.
With six titles, Sri Lanka is second in terms of the total number of trophies. Additionally, they are the reigning champs. Pakistan has won twice, the most recent being in 2012.
| Year | Format | Winner | Runners-up | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | ODI | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
| 1986 | ODI | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| 1988 | ODI | India | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
| 1990–91 | ODI | India | Sri Lanka | India |
| 1995 | ODI | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
| 1997 | ODI | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
| 2000 | ODI | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
| 2004 | ODI | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
| 2008 | ODI | Sri Lanka | India | Pakistan |
| 2010 | ODI | India | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka |
| 2012 | ODI | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
| 2014 | ODI | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Bangladesh |
| 2016 | T20 | India | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
| 2018 | ODI | India | Bangladesh | UAE |
| 2022 | T20 | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | UAE |
For 30 years, the Asia Cup was played just in the ODI format till 2014 but then, T20I format was added to every alternative year. As we know, the 2022 edition was a T20I format Asia Cup, it will be a 50-over Asia Cup this time around.
Asia Cup 2023 Format and Full Roadmap
This edition of the Asia Cup is going to be played in a 50-over format. It will be 5 years since the Asia Cup was last played in ODI format. Pakistan was the official host of Asia Cup 2023 previously.
Although Pakistan is the tournament’s official host, just four of the 13 games will actually take place there; the rest will be played in Sri Lanka. As a result of political tensions between India and Pakistan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to visit Pakistan land and ACC decided not to hold the event there. Then, ACC and PCB designed a hybrid approach to play the ASIA Cup 2023.
The six-team tournament will have two groups with three teams each who will play each other in a single round-robin format. The team ending last in the respective group will be eliminated at the end of the group stage.
The remaining four teams will head forward to the next stage and face off against each other in the Super-Four stage. These four teams will play 6 matches in this stage and the TOP 2 teams of Super-four will head to the Finals of Asia Cup 2023.
The final of Asia Cup 2023 will be played on 17 September in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Asia Cup 2023 Qualified Teams, Squads and Strongest Playing 11s
Six teams are qualified for this iteration of the Asia Cup with Nepal getting the ticket for the first time. The six qualified teams are:
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
India
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Nepal
Squads and Strongest Playing 11s
Pakistan Squad: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Tayyib Tahir (travelling reserve).
Pakistan Strongest Playing 11: Imam Ul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah & Shaheen Afridi.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Travelling Reserve- Sanju Samson
India Strongest Playing 11: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah & Mohammed Siraj.
Sri Lanka Squad: Yet Not Announced
Afghanistan Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Afghanistan Strongest Playing 11: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Mujeeb Ur Rahman & Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Bangladesh Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Naim, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan and Tanzim Hasan.
Bangladesh Strongest Playing 11: Litton Das, Mohammad Naim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam & Mustafizur Rahman.
Nepal Squad: Rohit Paudel (captain), Mahamad Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Aarif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Pratish GC, Kishor Mahato, Sundeep Jora, Arjun Saud, Shyam Dhakal.
Nepal Strongest Playing 11: Kushal Bhurtel, Arjun Saud (wk), Aasif Sheikh, Rohit Paudel, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC & Kishore Mahato.
READ: PAK vs NEP Dream11 Prediction Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan Playing11, Multan Stadium Pitch Report
For more details head to ICC’s official website.