Asia Cup 2023 schedule finalized, Major talking points between Jay Shah & PCB chief

Asia Cup 2023 schedule finalized with PCB agreeing to host the tournament in hybrid model.

Pakistan is scheduled to host the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. However, things took a turn when India denied playing any games in Pakistan and demanded a neutral venue for the tournament. A strong hold from both cricket boards forced the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to change the venues for games in the Asia Cup and make Sri Lanka the co-host.

The Pakistan Cricket Board's former chairman, Najam Sethi, introduced a new hybrid model in which some games will take place in Pakistan while other matches, including India's games, will take place in Sri Lanka. However, after Sethi resigned from his position, there were rumors that the new PCB chairman, Zaka Ashraf, rejected Sethi's new hybrid model. Some reports also confirmed that the new PCB chief wants Pakistan to host all the games and India to come and play in Pakistan.

Major Talking points during Meeting held between Jay Shah and PCB Chief over Asia Cup 2023

Amid all the speculations, both cricket boards have agreed to host the tournament according to the Hybrid Model. According to the Hybrid model, Pakistan got four matches to host, while the other nine games were scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka. Zaka Ashraf showed his disapproval of this proposal and wanted the whole tournament to take place in Pakistan. Though after the meeting held on Tuesday, he has agreed to the same.

The Asia Cup 2023 is scheduled to begin on August 31 with six teams divided into two groups of three each. India, Pakistan, and Nepal are in Group A, and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are in Group B. Meanwhile, some latest media reports in Pakistan confirmed that both Shah and Ashraf have come on the same page and also shared mutual invitations, where Shah will travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup while Ashraf was invited to India for the opening of the 2023 ODI World Cup.

There were some other talking points in the meeting between the two parties. The final schedule is expected to come out at the end of this week. According to the schedule, Sri Lanka will host nine games, while Pakistan will host four matches. The game between India and Pakistan will take place in Sri Lanka. Lahore in Pakistan and Dambula in Sri Lanka are expected to host the games in the tournament. However, a BCCI source confirmed, "We have had talks over Asia Cup and the hybrid model was approved. There was no such thing as invitation to each other."