Nepal won the final of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup in Kirtipur, securing their place in Group 1 of the Asia Cup 2023 alongside Pakistan and India.
They achieved this after a convincing seven-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates (UAE), successfully chasing down a target of 118 runs in 30.3 overs.
Gulshan Jha played a pivotal role in Nepal’s win, scoring 67 runs in 84 balls, which included three fours and six maximums.
In the first innings, UAE bowled out for only 117 runs in 33.1 overs, largely due to the impressive figures of 4-14 in 7.1 overs from Lalit Rajbanshi.
The Premier Cup is a significant part of the ACC’s new pathway structure and involved 10 Associate nations, with the winner directly qualifying for the Men’s Asia Cup 2023 scheduled to take place in September later this year.
Group 1, Group 2 Members
Group 1 for the Asia Cup 2023 will consist of Pakistan, Nepal, and India, while Group 2 will feature defending champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Four stage, which follows the same format as last year. However, the 2023 edition will revert to the ODI format.
It is important to note that last year, Pakistani cricket authorities hinted they may withdraw from the upcoming World Cup in India after Indian officials declared that they would not send a team to the 2023 Asia Cup in Pakistan.
The Indian cricket board secretary, Jay Shah, announced that India could not send a team to Pakistan and that the tournament would need to move to a neutral location.
This announcement caught Pakistan off guard, and officials warned that it could divide the international cricket community.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) responded by saying that Shah’s comments could impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and future ICC events in India from 2024 to 2031.
The PCB also noted that they had not received any official communication from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and that hosting rights for the 2023 Asia Cup had been granted to Pakistan under Shah’s leadership.
Despite being one of the greatest rivalries in sports, India and Pakistan have not played each other on home soil in any format of the game since 2012, and only meet each other in multinational tournaments on neutral ground.
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