It was almost confirmed last week that the Asia Cup will not be held in Sri Lanka. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said that this year’s Asia Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates. All that was left was the official announcement, which came today.
According to a press release of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and Sharjah between August 27 and September 11 as per the previous schedule. However, Sri Lanka will be the host.
Since the beginning of the crisis in Sri Lanka, there has been a discussion between the member countries about whether the Asia Cup will be held there or not. Sri Lanka has recently successfully hosted two bilateral series but questions were being raised about the country’s ability to host multinational tournaments during the crisis.
In today’s press release, ACC chief Jai Shah said, ‘All efforts have been made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. The hosting of the Asia Cup in the Emirates has also been confirmed after a long wait. The game will be played in the United Arab Emirates, but Sri Lanka remains the host country. Organizing this year’s Asia Cup is important for the member countries. Because this year is the T20 World Cup. I thank Sri Lanka Cricket and UAE Cricket for helping us organize the Asia Cup.”
Lankan Cricket Board chief Shammi Silva welcomed the ACC’s decision. He said, ‘We are looking forward to hosting the much-awaited Asia Cup with our neighbors in Asia. We agree with the decision of ACC. We will continue to work with the ACC and the Emirates Cricket Board to organize the Asia Cup under the current circumstances. Hopefully, we can give a thrilling Asia Cup.
