Rivalry Ignites: India to face Pak in Asia Cup opener

India to open campaign against Pakistan in Kandy on Sep 2, meet again in Colombo on Sep 10

India will open their Asia Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Kandy on September 2 while meeting the neighbours in a Super 4 clash in Colombo on September 10, as per scheduled released by Asian Cricket Council on Wednesday.

There is a chance of third Indo-Pak meeting in a space of 15 days if both teams qualify for the final that will be held at the Premadasa Stadium on September 17.

The six-team ODI tournament, which is a pre-cursor to the ICC World Cup will start on August 30 in Multan where hosts Pakistan takes on Nepal.

The Asia Cup is being played in Hybrid Model as four matches will be held in Pakistan while nine other games including the final will be held in Sri Lanka's Kandy and Colombo.

While India, Pakistan and Nepal constitute group A, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are in group B.

The release shared by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah said Pakistan will remain A1 and India will remain A2 irrespective of their positions after the first round. If either of them does not qualify, Nepal will take their position.

Similarly, in Group B, Sri Lanka will remain B1 and Bangladesh will remain B2. If any of these teams do not make it to Super 4s, Afghanistan will take their position.

While Pakistan were originally scheduled to host this year's Asia Cup, the Indian cricket board's refusal to send a team across the border. Pakistan will thus host a total of four matches while the remaining nine matches will be played in Sri Lanka.

After facing their arch-rivals in the tournament-opener, the Rohit Sharma-led team will have a one-day break before they face Nepal on September 4 at Kandy.

Group stage:

August 30: Pakistan vs Nepal, Multan
August 31: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Kandy
September 2: India vs Pakistan, Kandy
September 3: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Lahore
September 4: India vs Nepal, Kandy
September 5: Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Lahore

Super 4s stage:

September 6: A1 vs B2, Lahore
September 9: B1 vs B2, Colombo
September 10: A1 vs A2, Colombo
September 12: A2 vs B1, Colombo
September 14: A1 vs B1, Colombo
September 15: A2 vs B2, Colombo

September 17: Final, Colombo.