According to the bookmakers, the Asia Cup predictions favour Pakistan, who have odds of 1.7 to win the competition.
The 16th edition of the Asia Cup is set to take place from August 30 to September 17.
Though Pakistan are the designated host, only four matches will be played in the country. The remaining nine matches are set to be played in Sri Lanka. Multan will host a solitary game while the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore has the hosting rights to three Asia Cup 2023 matches.
As for Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Stadium and R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo will host nine games. While the marquee clash between India and Pakistan will take place on September 2 in Pallekele, Colombo will most likely host the Super Fours encounter between the two teams on September 10, unless Nepal pulls off a stunning upset in the group stage.
Interestingly, Pakistan will play only one game in Multan while in Lahore, three matches with neutral teams will take place. Only India will not travel to Pakistan due to political indifferences between the two countries and for the same reason, Asia Cup is taking place in a hybrid model this time around.
For the unversed, a total of six teams are taking part in the Asia Cup that will be played in the ODI format this year. These six teams are divided into two groups of three each with Group A comprising – India, Pakistan and Nepal while Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are clubbed in Group B.
The tournament is a massive one for all teams barring Nepal with it playing as a pre-cursor for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. The conditions in Sri Lanka will be similar to that in India and it will help all the sides finalise their combinations ahead of the mega event.
Nepal are the new entrants in the Asia Cup this year but they are in the toughest group and will face Pakistan and India in the group stage.
Asia Cup history
When it comes to Asia Cup predictions, it is very surprising to learn that India and Pakistan have never locked horns in the final of the tournament. However, India are the most successful team with a total of seven trophies to their name including a T20 Asia Cup trophy.
Sri Lanka are the second most successful side with six wins including their T20 trophy win last year. Pakistan have won the tournament only twice despite playing the Asia Cup since 1984.
What happened in the previous ODI Asia Cup?
An Asia Cup in the ODI format is taking place for the first time since 2018 in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai and Abu Dhabi hosted all the matches with India topping their group beating Pakistan and Afghanistan comfortably. From the other group, Afghanistan and Bangladesh qualified with Sri Lanka shockingly getting knocked out of the competition.
India continued their winning run in the Super Fours round as well beating their arch-rivals comfortably for the second consecutive time. They also defeated Bangladesh easily only for the newcomers Afghanistan to give them a run for their money.
With Rohit Sharma resting, MS Dhoni led India, for the 200th time in ODIs, and the match stunningly ended up in a tie. Both teams scored 252 runs each and the result didn’t matter as India had already qualified for the final while Afghanistan were eliminated. Bangladesh made it to the final beating Pakistan in the must-win encounter by 37 runs.
The final was a last-over thriller and it turned out to be a fairly low-scoring encounter. Bangladesh were propelled by Liton Das’ stunning century at the top. The opening partnership of 120 runs in less than 21 overs had put them ahead in the match.
But they lost their remaining wickets for just 102 more runs to get bundled out for 222 runs.
In response, India lost wickets at regular intervals and despite that, they were always ahead in the chase. Things went down the wire in the end with Bangladesh sticking to their plans. But eventually, India kept their cool and with an injured Kedar Jadhav staying out in the middle, they managed to chase down the target on the final ball of their innings.
Asia Cup predictions 2023 betting odds:
The favorites to win the Asia Cup predictions in 2023, according to Parimatch are:
The Asia Cup predictions for dark horses are:
Till August 18, India were not the outright favourites to win the Asia Cup, with question marks still remaining over the fitness levels of three mainstays, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. However, Bumrah’s successful return from injury and his exceptional bowling skills in the T20Is against Ireland have helped India’s bowling resources. His presence has played a huge role in making India the firm favourites for the Asia Cup, and they will also be buoyed by the return of Iyer.
The No.4 batter is exceptional against spin in the middle overs. His presence in the squad was subject to him clearing the fitness tests. If unfit, India would have been in a dilemma, with them then having to select either Suryakumar Yadav or Sanju Samson in the XI. They could have also played Ishan Kishan, an opener, at No.4, sending the entire balance haywire. His return lends stability to the attack, and even if Rahul is not fit for the first few games, India look a better balanced-side than they were ten days ago.
Pakistan, unsurprisingly, are the second favourites to win the Asia Cup. They have recently played three ODIs against Afghanistan in Sri Lanka, where a majority of the games will be held, and have gotten the exposure needed to play on sluggish wickets. They have a number of lethal quicks as well, and will be the team to watch out for.
Sri Lanka, last year’s Asia Cup winners, can never be written out. They will be playing at home, and excel when pushed against the wall. Bangladesh and Afghanistan can always spring a surprise in an odd game, but expecting Nepal to do the same would be far-fetched.
