The Men’s Asia Cup is set to get underway on Wednesday, 30 August, with six teams poised to battle it out for the coveted title. Sri Lanka and Pakistan are co-hosting this year’s event.

Afghanistan is among the teams and has been placed in Group B along with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. India, Pakistan, and Nepal are in Group A.

This will be Nepal’s debut in the tournament after they qualified by winning the inaugural ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2023, where they overcame the United Arab Emirates in the final by seven wickets.

The tournament started in 1984 in the ODI format, although the recent editions have alternated between ODI and T20I formats. The 2023 edition will be played as an ODI (50-over) competition.

India is the most successful side in the tournament with seven titles (six ODI and one T20I) to their name. Sri Lanka comes in second place with six (five ODI and one T20I) titles. Pakistan has won the Asia Cup twice.

The Asia Cup 2023 will see the two groups comprising three teams playing in round-robin style within their group. Top two sides from each group will then qualify for the Super Four stage.

The Super Four will be another round-robin series of games and the top two sides from there will qualify for the final, to be played on 17 September in Colombo.

Thirteen games will be played in total between 30 August and 17 September. The group stage of the tournament will be played from 30 August to 5 September and three of these games will be played in Pakistan, while the rest will be held in Sri Lanka.

The Super Four stage will run from 6 to 15 September, with five encounters being played in Sri Lanka, and one in Pakistan. The final will be hosted at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 17 September.

The Asia Cup will be played across four venues in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Multan and Lahore will host the Pakistan leg of the tournament, whereas Kandy and Colombo will host the games in Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan goes into the tournament in the aftermath of a 3-0 series loss to Pakistan. However, the side can draw encouragement from their recent ODI performances. They displayed resilience in a 2-1 series loss to Sri Lanka in June and secured a 2-1 ODI series victory against Bangladesh in July. The team will bank on their world-class spinners to excel in the conducive sub-continent conditions.

Afghanistan’s squad:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Suliman Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi

For fans across the country, Ariana Television (ATN) will broadcast all the matches live each day starting at 1:30 pm on Wednesday. Live matches will be broadcast daily through to the final, which will take place in Colombo on September 17.

Afghanistan’s first match in the Group Stage will be on September 3 in Lahore, Pakistan, against Bangladesh. The team will then play Sri Lanka, also in Lahore, on September 5.

CLICK HERE for the broadcasting schedule