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India and Pakistan, the finalists of the 2017 Champions Trophy, will meet for the first time since this unbalanced contest, with the announcement of the Asian Cup calendar confirming the date and the place of the match. The two players face off on September 19 in Dubai, the first time they will face the UAE since 2006. It will also be the first time rivals fight in Dubai; they have already played 24 ODI in Sharjah and two in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan dominated the UAE, winning 19 contests, with India outscoring the other seven.
Six teams will participate in the Asian Cup, the group stage being split into two groups for the first time. Pakistan and India have been pooled with another team determined by a qualifying tournament that will take place from August 29 to September 6. The qualifying tournament consists of six teams: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman and United Arab Emirates.
The other group includes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The six teams will then be reduced to four after the first round, each playing the other in a round robin. The first two will go to the final, which will take place on September 28th.
The tournament will also return to its traditional ODI format, which was held for the last time in 2014 in Bangladesh, with emerging winners from Sri Lanka. The 2016 edition was transformed into a T20I tournament, serving as preparation for the World T20 that was to take place a month later. India was champion in 2016.
This year's tournament was originally scheduled to take place in India, but political differences with Pakistan forced it to be postponed to the United Arab Emirates in April. The Emirates Cricket Board will rent stadiums with India to serve as an official host. All matches will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the latter to serve as venue for the final.
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