The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah, on Thursday, released the cricket calendar for 2023-24. Shah posted the update on his official Twitter handle in which he revealed the pathway for the associate nations to make it into the competition.
Shah, who is also the BCCI secretary, confirmed that the Asia Cup 2023 would be held in September, with India and Pakistan being clubbed in the same group. The tournament will be played in the same format that has been in use across the last two editions. The upcoming 16th season will have a total of 13 matches, which includes the subsequent Super 4 stage and the final.
The exciting tournament is scheduled to take place in September but in the 50-over format, keeping the ODI World Cup in the October-November window in mind. Notably, the Asia Cup is known for its adaptation as it was reduced to a T20 format in 2016 and 2022, when the World Cups of the shortest format took place.
As per the new calendar, 2023 will start off with Men’s Challengers Cup, a ten-team fifty-over tournament. This competition will feature 10 teams, out of which eight are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Maldives, Thailand and Iran. The remaining two teams are yet to be named. There will be two groups of five teams each. A total of 23 matches will be played.
Then, a Men’s Under-16 Regional tournament will be held in March. The tournament will feature eight teams, region-wise. The winners and runners-up of the aforementioned Men’s Challengers Cup will qualify for Men’s Premier Cup, a 50-over tournament. This competition will be played in April and consisting 24 matches. Ten teams divided into two groups of five matches for this competition. The teams confirmed for the tournament are UAE, Nepal, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
Moving onto June, a Women’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup will take place, with eight teams divided into groups of two each. One group will feature India A, Pakistan A, Thailand and Hong Kong. The other group will have teams like Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh A, UAE, and Malaysia.
Next up will be Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup, another 50-over tournament. This competition will have eight teams divided into two groups of four each. The first group will feature India A, Pakistan A, Sri Lanka A and Qualifier 1. The other group will have Afghanistan A, Bangladesh A and Qualifier 2 and 3. It will have 15 matches.
The men’s Asia Cup, the main tournament of ACC, will be held in September. It will feature six teams divided into two groups. India, Pakistan and Qualifier 1 (the winner of the Men’s Premier Cup) are in one group, while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are in the other. A total of 13 matches will be held.
In October, November, and December, one tournament each for Men’s Under 19 Cricket will be held in the form of a Challengers Cup, Men’s Under-19 Premier Cup and Men’s Asia Cup at the under-19 level.
The year 2024 will begin with Men’s T20 Challenger Cup in February and the Women’s T20 Challenger Cup in March. The men’s tournament will feature Asian cricket’s associate teams ranked from 14 to 23, while the women’s event will have associate teams from 9 to 18. Winner and runner-up of this tournament will qualify for Men’s and Women’s T20 Premier Cup, to take place in April and May, respectively.
Women’s T20 Asia Cup and Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup will be held in September and October. Then the men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be held in December.
Presenting the @ACCMedia1 pathway structure & cricket calendars for 2023 & 2024! This signals our unparalleled efforts & passion to take this game to new heights. With cricketers across countries gearing up for spectacular performances, it promises to be a good time for cricket! pic.twitter.com/atzBO4XjIn
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) January 5, 2023
