Explained: Why Asia Cup 2023 will be played in ODI format, while Asia Cup 2022 was played in T20I format

The Asia Cup tournament mirrors the format of the World Cup event to follow.

The 16th Asia Cup is quickly approaching. From August 30 to September 17, 2023, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will host the Asia Cup 2023. Sri Lanka are the reigning champions, having won the 2022 edition which was played in T20 format in UAE.

The T20 and ODI formats have alternated at the Asia Cup in previous years. One Day Internationals (ODI) will be used as the format for the Asia Cup 2023.

The T20 format was used for the Asia Cup 2022, while ODIs will be used for the Asia Cup 2023. IND vs. PAK will be the most eagerly awaited game of the Asia Cup 2023, which will be played on September 2nd in Pallekele, Kandy.

The last time ODI format was used for the Asia Cup was in 2018, when India were the hosts, but the tournament was played in UAE. India came out as champions defeating Pakistan and Bangladesh two times in the tournament. They did play a tie against Afghanistan.

The Asia Cup 2023 will be played in three stages in the round-robin format. The very first stage is the Group stage in which the six teams are divided into 2 groups. Group A consists of India, Pakistan, and Nepal. The second ‘Group B’ consists of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

With each, win, every team will get a point and accordingly, the top 2 teams from both groups with the most no. of points will move towards the next stage. The top four teams from the Group stage will face off in the super 4 stage.

The round-robin format will be used for the super 4 stage as well. The point system will be the same in this level as it was in the group stage. The final match of the Asia Cup 2023 will feature the top two teams from this stage and will be played in Colombo on September 17.

Why Asia Cup 2023 will be played in the ODI format while Asia Cup 2022 was played in the T20I format ?

The reason why the Asia Cup tournaments are played in alternating formats is because of the decision taken in 2015 when the Asian Cricket Council was downsized and its development activities were taken over by the ICC.

It was also decided that the Asia Cup events from 2016 would be played on a rotation basis between One Day International and Twenty20 International format, on the basis of the format of upcoming world events.

Then Asian Cricket Council CEO Syed Ashraful Haq had said in 2015: “Not only would the tournament continue every two years, it would be revamped to include more Associate nations and mirror the format of the World Cup event to follow.”

Haq suggested “The change in format could also see two Associate nations join India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the tournament. There may be one or two teams from Associate nations as well. They could join India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in the main tournament after playing a qualifying round.”

The Asia Cup 2016 was played in T20I format for the first time, with India under MS Dhoni winning the tournament which was held in Bangladesh. It functioned as a preparatory tournament ahead of the 2016 ICC World Twenty20.

The next edition in 2018 was played in ODI format, won by India in UAE, as it acted as a preparatory event for 2019 World Cup in England. The Asia Cup 2022 was played in T20I format as prep for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

Historically, the Asia Cup adapts to the ICC tournament that is scheduled to play that same year or the succeeding year. With the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule this year, Asia Cup 2023 shall be played in the ODI format.

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