The Asia Cup 2023 schedule was officially announced on Wednesday and India are all set to face Pakistan in their Group A match at Kandy in Sri Lanka on September 2. However, that may not be the only time when the two teams come face-to-face in the competition. The top two teams from both groups will move to the Super Fours stage where all teams will play each other once. According to the release shared by Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah, Pakistan will be A1 and India will be A2 irrespective of their positions in the group stages. As a result, if both teams can qualify from Group A, they will face each other in the Super Fours stage on September 10 in Colombo.

The top two teams in the Super Fours stage will move to the final of the tournament and if India and Pakistan can book their berths in the summit clash, they will meet for the third time in the competition on September 17. The match will take place at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The six-team ODI tournament, which is a pre-cursor to the ICC World Cup will start on August 30 in Multan where hosts Pakistan takes on Nepal.

I am happy to announce the schedule for the highly anticipated Men’s ODI #AsiaCup2023, a symbol of unity and togetherness binding diverse nations together! Let’s join hands in the celebration of cricketing excellence and cherish the bonds that connect us all. @ACCMedia1 pic.twitter.com/9uPgx6intP

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) July 19, 2023

The Asia Cup is being played in Hybrid Model as four matches will be held in Pakistan while nine other games including the final will be held in Sri Lanka’s Kandy and Colombo.

While Pakistan were originally scheduled to host this year’s Asia Cup, the Indian cricket board’s refusal to send a team across the border. Pakistan will thus host a total of four matches while the remaining nine matches will be played in Sri Lanka.

After facing their arch-rivals in the tournament-opener, the Rohit Sharma-led team will have a one-day break before they face Nepal on September 4 at Kandy.

(With PTI inputs)