Asian Cricket Council postpone Asia Cup till June 2021

Asian Cricket Council has decided to postpone the Asia Cup till June 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The official announcement comes a day after BCCI president Sourav Ganguly declared that the Asia Cup is cancelled during an instagram live interaction with Vikrant Gupta on Sports Tak.

The ACC has also announced Pakistan has exchanged hosting rights with Sri Lanka for the 2020 edition whereas Pakistan will host the 2022 event. Initially, Pakistan was expected to host the multi-team tournament but India was reluctant to travel to Pakistan and asked for a change in venue.

Subsequently, it was decided that Pakistan will host the event in UAE whereas reports also emerged the tournament might take place in Sri Lanka. However, it is finally decided that Sri Lanka will stage the competition in 2021.

“The Executive Board of the ACC has met on multiple occasions to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Asia Cup tournament scheduled in September 2020,” stated the ACC in a media release.

“From the onset the Board was keen on organising the tournament as per the original schedule. However, travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements, threat to fundamental health and social distancing mandates have posed substantial challenges to the holding of the Asia Cup.

Meanwhile, the Asia Cup is hosted after every two years. The tournament hasn’t been hosted by Pakistan since 2008. Sri Lanka hosted the event back in 2010 whereas the last three editions have been staged in Bangladesh.

The tournament’s format is rotated between ODI and T20I on alternate occasions. India are the defending champions and they have won the T20I version by defeating Bangladesh in the final of the 2018 edition.

ACC added that they are targeting the June 2021 window to host the Asia Cup and it is their responsibility to make sure that they tick the right boxes during this health crisis.

“Conducting the event in a responsible manner remains the priority of the ACC and the Board is hopeful that the tournament will be held in 2021. The ACC is currently working towards securing June 2021 as a suitable window for the same.

“It may also be noted that the hosts for the Asia Cup 2020, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), have exchanged hosting rights for the tournament with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Through this arrangement, The SLC will now host the rescheduled Asia Cup expected in June 2021 while the PCB will host the Asia Cup 2022,” the ACC stated.