India and Pakistan will play each other for the first time since the 2021 T20 World Cup when they face off in the Asia Cup on August 28 in Dubai, a day after the tournament begins with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan. Bangladesh open their campaign against Afghanistan on August 30 in Sharjah.
The fixtures of the 2022 Asia Cup, which will be played in the T20 format ahead of the T20 World Cup in October, were announced on Tuesday. India, Pakistan and the team that wins the qualifying tournament comprise Group A, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are in Group B.
All matches will start at 6pm local time, with ten games in Dubai and three in Sharjah.
The qualifying round of matches to determine the sixth team will begin on August 20 in Oman. The teams competing for a place in Group A - along with India and Pakistan - are UAE, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong.
In the main draw, each team will play the other two in their group once, and the top two teams from each group will enter a Super 4 round that starts on September 3. The teams in the Super 4 round will play each other once, with the top two sides qualifying for the final on September 11.
India are the defending champions of the Asia Cup, which was last played in 2018 in an ODI format. India had won the title by beating Bangladesh in a last-ball thriller in Dubai.
This edition of the Asia Cup was supposed to be held in Sri Lanka but it was moved to the UAE last month because of the ongoing economic crisis in the island nation. SLC will continue to be the official hosts of the tournament, although it is being played in the UAE.
"Considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the ACC after extensive deliberation has unanimously concluded that it would be appropriate to relocate the tournament from Sri Lanka to the UAE," the ACC president Jay Shah had said. "Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting rights."