Sri Lanka Almost Certain To Host Asia Cup This Year In September
Prashant Gautam
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has offered Sri Lanka the rights to host the upcoming Asia cup. Pakistan was originally scheduled to host this year’s Asia cup in September. Despite that, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) agreed to the proposal of ACC for giving Sri Lanka the hosting rights of the Asia Cup 2020.
Two cricket boards agreed:
The event had an uncertain future after India refused to tour Pakistan. Sri Lanka cricket chief Shammi Silva discussed the hosting rights with PCB to which they agreed due to the current situation because of COVID-19. The two cricket boards in an online meeting talked about the event and it is now almost certain that Sri Lanka would host the Asia Cup this year.
“We discussed with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and they have already agreed to our hosting this edition due to the present world situation. We had an online ACC meeting and they basically gave us the green light to host the tournament”, Shammi Silva was quoted as saying by Sri Lankan media outlet ”Ceylon Today’.
The ACC will wait for ICC’s decision on whether Australia will host the T20 world cup in October and November. The ACC also discussed possible venues for the Asia Cup that would provide a safe environment for the players.
The final decision of the Asia cup could be taken soon with Sri Lanka bagging the hosting rights. Another topic that was discussed in the online meeting was ACC’s involvement in the 2022 Asia cup games in China.
“The Cricket Boards emphasized the importance of holding the Asia Cup 2020. In light of the impact and consequences of the asiaCOVID-19 pandemic, possible venue options for the Asia Cup 2020 were discussed and it was decided to take the final decision in due course,” an ACC press release stated after the meeting.
The ACC board meeting was chaired by Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan Papon and it was the first continental meeting attended by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly (board member) and secretary Jay Shah (ex Officio).
