The 15th edition of the Asia Cup is just around the corner. The continental tournament is all set to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 27 August to 11 September. Asia Cup is returning after four years as it was played in the 2018 last time. India were crowned the champions in the 14th edition which was played in the ODI format.

However, the 15th edition of the continental tournament will be played in the T20I format as there is a T20 World Cup scheduled for this year. A total of six teams will take part in the tournament. While the five teams are already decided, the sixth will be decided after the qualifier in Oman concludes.

As every cricket fan in Asia is gearing up for the tournament to kick off, here is a basic guide to the format of the 2022 Asia Cup this year.

Why will the 2022 Asia Cup be played in T20I format?

With all editions of the Asia Cup before 2016 being played in the ODI format, a question may arise why is this year’s or the 2016 edition of the tournament played in the T20I format? So, to answer that question, after downsizing the Asian Cricket Council in 2015, the International Cricket Council announced that Asia Cup events from 2016 would be played on a rotation basis between One Day International and Twenty20 International format, on the basis of the format of upcoming world events. This is the reason the 15th edition of the tournament will be played in the T20I format.

What is the format for the 2022 Asia Cup?

Group Stage

The 2022 Asia Cup will be played in three stages. The first stage will be the group stage where all three teams in the two groups will play against each other once. Points will be rewarded for a win and based on those points; the teams will be ranked in their respective groups. The top two teams from the two groups will advance to the next stage i.e. the Super 4 stage.

Super 4 Stage

In the Super 4 stage, all the four teams will play against each other once in the round-robin format. The point system will remain the same in the Super 4 stage as well. The two teams which will finish in the top two positions will face each other in the third stage i.e. the Final.

Final

The winner of the final will be crowned the new champion of Asia.

It’s worth mentioning that before the Group stage of the 2022 Asia Cup kicks off, a qualifier between Hong Kong, UAE, Kuwait, and Singapore will be played (which starts on 20 August). The winner of the Qualifier will join India and Pakistan in Group A and will then compete in the group stage.

Asia Cup Groups

Group A: India, Pakistan, Qualifier

Group B: Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh