The mouth-watering clash between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan in Asia Cup 2023 will be played on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. All cricket fans around the world are eagerly waiting to witness the historic rivalry unfolding for the first time since the 2022 T20 World Cup. In Asia Cup last year, both the teams met each other twice where the Rohit Sharma-led side emerged victorious in the group stage, the Pakistan team thrashed them in the Super 4 stage by 5 wickets.
India bowed out in the Super 4 stage, while Pakistan qualified for the final where they lost to Sri Lanka by 23 runs. While discussing the upcoming Asia Cup, former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram took a dig at Team India's last year's elimination.
"Last time we had predicted an India versus Pakistan final but Sri Lanka won the competition. All three teams are dangerous -- anyone can win on their day. There are other teams competing too. Last time Sri Lanka won the title, India even failed to make it to the final," said Akram during the Asia Cup trophy unveiling in Dubai.
Akram further stated that despite the political tensions between the two nations, sports should be kept free from all the negativity as people from both sides respect each other.
"I have always maintained and said that politics and sports should be apart from each other. People-to-people contact is very important and the average Indian and Pakistani, they do respect each other. I hope eventually sanity prevails," he added.
The Asia Cup 2023 will kick-start from Wednesday with co-hosts Pakistan squaring off against Nepal in the opening clash in Multan.