India, Pakistan to lock horns in Kandy on September 2 in Asia Cup: Reports

Arguably the most anticipated encounter of the Asia Cup 2023 between India and Pakistan will be played in Kandy on September 2. As per reports from ESPNCricinfo, this date has been decided as per the latest draft just before the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) makes it official soon.

As per the draft, India and Pakistan will be joined by Nepal in Group A while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan will form Group B of what promises to be a highly competitive Asia Cup. The top two teams from each group will then move forward to the Super Four stage where a round-robin contest will see the top two teams go to the final.

The tournament is likely to start on August 30, a day before what was proposed by the PCB in the initial draft. Pakistan will host Nepal in the opening game and that one will be played in Multan.

Initially, Pakistan had offered just one venue in Lahore for the four games that they were slated to host. However, new PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf added Multan as a venue for the opening game. Lahore will host three games and a Super Four match.

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India and Pakistan could meet again in Asia Cup Super Four in Kandy

As per the draft, Pakistan and India will finish as A1 and A2 from their group respectively if they qualify irrespective of who tops the group among them. Similar is the case in the other group where Sri Lanka will progress as B1 and Bangladesh as B2 unless either of them is toppled by Afghanistan.

Sri Lanka have Kandy and Dambulla as their venues with the former likely to host India vs Pakistan once again on September 10 if the two teams progress to the Super Four stage. There will be a total of 13 matches played in Asia Cup 2023, all starting at 1:30 PM IST with the final to be played in Colombo.