Asia Cup 2022: Format explained - Qualifiers, Group Stage & Super Four

The 2022 edition of the tournament is tipped to be the closest one with all teams having enough quality. (P.C.: Twitter)

The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup, which was initially supposed to be held in Sri Lanka, will be played in the United Arab Emirates from August 27 to September 11. Six teams will go head-to-head to be crowned champions of Asia in what promises to be an absolutely enthralling tournament.

The tournament has generally had 50-over matches. However, akin to the 2016 edition, the 2022 version of the event will consist of 20-over games with one eye on the upcoming T20 World Cup in October.

An interesting aspect of the tournament's format is that it is no longer in the single round-robin phase that it used to be.

Click here to view the teams which are at the top of the Asia Cup points table.

Here's a look at the new format of the tournament:

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Asia Cup 2022 Qualifiers

The first phase of the tournament has already begun with Qualifiers being played among four teams. Hong Kong, UAE, Kuwait, and Singapore are currently competing at the Al Amerat Stadium in Muscat for a spot in the main tournament.

Each team will play a game against the other three and whoever tops the group will be the sixth team to qualify for the group stages. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have already sealed their berths.

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Asia Cup 2022 Group Stage

The next phase will be the Group Stage, which will begin on August 27. There are two groups of three teams each. The first group consists of India, Pakistan and the team that tops the qualifiers.

The second group consists of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This is the proverbial 'Group of Death' as any team can beat the other two on any given day. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Four stage.

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Asia Cup 2022 Super Four

The Super Four stage will have the four qualified teams face off against each other from September 3 to September 9. This promises to be a fantastic and unpredictable phase as all the teams will likely have some momentum with a few wins under their belt.

The top two teams from this phase will meet in the final on September 11.

Find the full Asia Cup schedule here.