Asia Cup to be held in June 2021: Details here
What's the story
The 2020 edition of the Asia Cup had been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic As per the original schedule, UAE had to host the Asia Cup in September-October, this year. And now, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is looking at a window in June 2021 to host the tournament. Sri Lanka will host the rescheduled Asia Cup next year. Here's more.
Confirmation
Asia Cup has been canceled in September: Ganguly
On Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly gave the official confirmation of the tourney getting canceled in a live chat on Instagram. "Asia Cup has been canceled in September. So at the moment I cannot say when cricket will resume in India," said Ganguly.
Asia Cup
ACC postponed Asia Cup owing to the COVID-19 pandemic
The Asian Cricket Council said that the tournament has been postponed after evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "After careful consideration and evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Executive Board of the ACC has decided to postpone the Asia Cup tournament that was scheduled for September 2020," the ACC tweeted.
Challenges
ACC thinks of the larger picture keeping everyone in mind
Several challenges resulted in postponing of the Asia Cup 2020. "Travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements, fundamental health risks and social distancing mandates have posed as substantial challenges to holding the Asia Cup," a statement read. "Above all, the risks related to health and safety of participating players, support staff and commercial partners, fans and the cricketing community were deemed to be significant," it added.
Rights
Pakistan awarded hosting rights of the event in 2022
With Sri Lanka set to host the Asia Cup in 2021, Pakistan have been awarded the hosting rights in 2022. The previous edition was hosted by the BCCI in UAE in September 2018, with India emerging winners. The Asia Cup 2020 was seen as the build-up tourney leading to the T20 World Cup. One expects the ICC to postpone the WT20 next.