Men’s Asia Cup and Asia Cup Qualifier tournaments announced for 2023

Asian Cricket Council (ACC) have announced the tournament calendars for 2023 and 2024, with senior Men’s, senior Women’s, U19 Men’s and Emerging events stacked up for the next two (2) years and giving ample opportunities for Associate member countries in the region to play in competitions in both T20 an 50-overs formats.

The Men’s Asia Cup 2023 tournament structure and qualification pathway have been announced. The program will start with the Men’s Challenger Cup tournament, where a total of ten (10) Associate member countries will take part for two (2) qualification spots into the main draw of Men’s Premier Cup, which will also see eight (8) Associate member countries compete for the title. The Winner of the Premier Cup tournament will qualify for the 2023 ACC Men’s Asia Cup and will be playing alongside India and Pakistan in the group stages. The Winner, Runners-up and the 3rd placed team in the Premier Cup will qualify for the 2023 ACC Men’s Asia Cup Emerging tournament, with the Premier Cup winner grouped alongside “A” teams from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while the Runners-up and 3rd placed team will be grouped alongside “A” teams from Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Men’s Challenger Cup tournament will take place from February 24th – March 05th, 2023 in Thailand, while the Men’s Premier Cup tournament will take place from April 18th – May 01st, 2023 in Nepal. The Men’s Asia Cup Emerging tournament will take place in July 2023, while the Men’s Asia Cup tournament will take place in September 2023, which will be followed by 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India. All the matches in these tournaments will be played in the 50-overs format and ACC have invited expressions of interest (EOI) from Media houses for broadcast rights purchase for the qualification pathway tournaments.

Men’s Challenger Cup (Winner and Runners-up qualify for Men’s Premier Cup)

Group A: Bahrain, Bhutan, Maldives and Iran
Group B: Saudi Arabia, Indonesia (Invitee), Thailand and Myanmar

Men’s Premier Cup (Winner qualify for Men’s Asia Cup, with Winner, Runners-up and 3rd placed team qualifying for Men’s Asia Cup Emerging Nations)

Group A: Oman, Nepal, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Group B: United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Bahrain

Men’s Asia Cup Emerging Nations

Group A: India A, Pakistan A, Sri Lanka A, Nepal
Group B: Afghanistan A, Bangladesh A, United Arab Emirates, Oman

Men’s Asia Cup

Group A: India, Pakistan, Nepal
Group B: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan