India to face Pakistan in their opening Asia Cup contest

A long wait finally came to an end as the Asia Cup schedule was announced. Team India will meet Pakistan on the 28th of August in the first encounter of the tournament for both teams. The two arch-rivals could meet thrice in the tournament with the last meeting being a potential final. The schedule for the tournament was announced yesterday and will be kickstarting on August 27th with a blockbuster clash between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

The tournament will be concluding with a bang on September 11th. The continental fray that was last convened in 2018, will go forward, with nine teams dabbling in the affair in the shortest format of the game.

UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, and Hong Kong will be participating in a qualifying round with the ace joining the ranks of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan in the tournament.

The main tournament will be played in two groups where India has been clubbed with Pakistan and the qualifying team in Group A, while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan will be duking it out in Group B. Each team will be playing within the group once with the other outfits.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Four where they will be playing each other in a round-robin format. The two top teams at the end of the Super Four stages will meet in the grand finale.

The tournament had to be moved out of Sri Lanka and to the UAE, due to the political unrest that has been brewing in the country.

Schedule:

Group A:

India v Pakistan: 28 August, Dubai
India v Qualifier:  31 August, Duabi
Pakistan v Qulaifier: 2 September, Sharjah

Group B:

Sri Lanka v Afghanistan: 27 August, Dubai
Bangladesh v Afghanistan, 30 August, Sharjah
Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, 1 September, Dubai

Super 4:

B1 v B2: 3 September, Sharjah
A1 v A2: 4 September, Dubai
A1 v B1: 6 September, Dubai
A2 v B2: 7 September, Dubai
A1 v B2: 8 September, Dubai
B1 v A2: 9 September, Dubai

Final: 11 September, Dubai