“Don’t Believe In Counting…”: Rahul Dravid’s Interesting Take On Possibility Of Facing Pakistan 3 Times At Asia Cup | Cricket News

The President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Jay Shah, announced the schedule for the Asia Cup 2023, less than an hour before Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief was about to do the same during an event in Lahore. As per the schedule, the opening match of the tournament will be played between co-hosts Pakistan and Nepal on August 30. Meanwhile, the blockbuster match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be held in Kandy on September. Clubbed in the same group, India and Pakistan could face off three times during the tournament.

As per ACC’s release, Pakistan will be A1 and India will be A2 irrespective of their positions in the group stages. As a result, if both teams can qualify from Group A, they will face each other in the Super Fours stage on September 10 in Colombo.

The top two teams in the Super Fours stage will move to the final of the tournament and if India and Pakistan can book their berths in the summit clash, they will meet for the third time in the competition on September 17.

Reacting on the possibility of playing Pakistan three times in the space of 15 days, Dravid said he likes to take it one game at a time.

“The schedule is out. You have to qualify for the Super Fours to play Pakistan three times. One step at a time, I don’t believe in counting my chickens too much. I know we are going to play Pakistan and Nepal in the first two games, so we need to focus on that. We need to win those games and see where the tournament goes.,” Dravid told reporters in a video posted by the BCCI.

With the #AsiaCup2023 fixtures announced, here’s what #TeamIndia Head Coach Rahul Dravid said pic.twitter.com/ycEWukD5zW

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 19, 2023

“If we get the opportunity to play them three times, it’s fantastic. That would mean we reach the final of the tournament and hopefully, Pakistan do too. It would be a great contest, and we certainly want to play right up to the final and win it. But we need to take the first two steps to do that,” he added.