File image of Pakistani pacesetter Shaheen Afridi©Twitter
The schedule of the Asia Cup 2023 was announced on Wednesday. Head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Jay Shah, who is also the BCCI Secretary, was the first to announce the schedule. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), co-hosting the continental event, also organized an unveiling ceremony to announce the schedule, with Head Zaka Ashraf attending the occasion along with former Pakistani players. There, Ashraf accidentally committed a comic blunder. When talking about Pakistan’s potential in ODIs, he falsely mentioned fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, a top 10 batsman.
“There’s power in both our hitting and our bowling. If you’re talking about hitting, our captain [Babar Azam] ranks number one [ranked batter] in the world. If you talk about others, then Pakistani hitters are among the top five [in the rankings]said Ashraf at the ceremony, a video of which is available on PCB’s YouTube channel.
“If you talk about Shaheen Shah Afridi, his name is in the top 10 hitters. So, the way the Pakistan team is playing, my best wishes are with them.”
While Pakistan’s captain Babar ranks number one in the ICC ODI rankings, Fakhar Zaman and Imam ul Haq rank third and fourth in the rankings. Left arm pacer Afridi is currently the No. 9 bowler in ODIs, but he is nowhere near being on-10 among batsmen.
This time the Asia Cup will be played in a hybrid format, after Shah stated last year that India would not travel to Pakistan for the event. The tournament kicks off on August 30 with a match between Pakistan and Nepal in Multan, Pakistan. The highly anticipated confrontation between India and Pakistan will take place in Kandy, Sri Lanka on September 2. India will meet Nepal in the other group stage on September 4 at the same venue.
Pakistan will host three group stage matches and one Super Four stage match. The rest of the tournament will be played in Sri Lanka. The final will take place on September 17 in Colombo.
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