NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah on Tuesday took to Twitter to announce the schedule of Asia Cup 2022. The tournament will begin on August 27 with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan. The arch rivals India and Pakistan will lock horns on August 28, which will be a Sunday.
India, Pakistan and a qualifier are placed in Group A, while Group B consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The top two teams from each group will advance to the ‘Super 4’ round, where India and Pakistan might clash again. The final will be played on September 11 in Dubai.
The wait is finally over as the battle for Asian supremacy commences on 27th August with the all-important final on 11th September.
The 15th edition of the Asia Cup will serve as ideal preparation ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/QfTskWX6RD
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) August 2, 2022
The 15th edition of the tournament is a precursor to the T20 World Cup and will provide opportunities to all the Asian teams to prepare themselves for the marquee championship.
The tournament was earlier slated to be held in Sri Lanka but was later shifted to the UAE amid the escalating civil and financial crisis in Sri Lanka.
“We were really looking forward to hosting our Asian neighbours in Sri Lanka for the much-anticipated Asia Cup. While I fully stand by the ACC’s decision to shift the Asia Cup to UAE considering the current context and the magnitude of the event, Sri Lanka Cricket will work closely with the ACC and Emirates Cricket Board to ensure that we still have an exciting edition of the Asia Cup,” Sri Lanka Cricket chief Shammi Silva said.
The Asian Cricket Council also issued a statement saying while the venue has been changed, Sri Lanka will retain hosting rights.
“Considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the ACC after extensive deliberation has unanimously concluded that it would be appropriate to relocate the tournament from Sri Lanka to the UAE,” the ACC said in a statement.
“Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting rights,” the statement concluded.