The schedule for Asia Cup 2023 was announced on Wednesday with India and Pakistan scheduled to face each other on 2 September in Kandy. India and Pakistan can possibly meet each other thrice (if they qualify for Super Fours and reach the finals) during the tournament.
In a video posted on the BCCI's social media, Rahul Dravid, the head coach of Team India, commented on the possibility of the two teams clashing thrice, in the run-up to the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup.
“The schedule is out. You have to qualify for the Super Fours to play Pakistan three times. One step at a time, I don't believe in counting my chickens too much,” he said in a video shared by BCCI on Twitter.
“I know we are going to play Pakistan and Nepal in the first two games, so we need to focus on that. We need to play good cricket. We need to win those games and see where the tournament goes. If we get the opportunity to play them three times, it's fantastic. That would mean we reach the final of the tournament and hopefully, Pakistan has reached the final as well and that will be a great team, great contest and great for us,” he added.
Pakistan, India and Nepal are in Group A while Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are in Group B.
He further said, “ We certainly aim to do that. we certainly want to play right up to the final. We want to win that final but we need to take the first two steps to do that.”
Asia Cup 2023 will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka with 4 matches to be played in Pakistan while the remaining 9 matches will be hosted by Sri Lanka. It will be stretched over a span of 19 days from 30 August to 17 September.
Four venues will be used for the 13-match competition. In Pakistan, Multan will host the tournament opener between Pakistan and Nepal on August 30 before the action shifts to Lahore for the remaining three matches.
Sri Lanka will use Kandy for the three first-round matches and Colombo for the five Super-4 stage fixtures and final.
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