Final decision on Asia Cup 2020 today?

A final decision on the venue for the Asia Cup 2020 is likely to be taken at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) virtual meeting scheduled for today (3 July).

Although they have not been offered the hosting rights officially by the ACC, Sri Lanka are most likely to be the venue for Asia Cup 2020 if it goes ahead following the Pakistan Cricket Board’s willingness to let them host the tournament as India are unwilling to travel to Pakistan.

At their meeting held in June, the ACC issued a press release stating “in light of the impact and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, possible venue options for the Asia Cup 2020 were discussed and it was decided to take the final decision in due course”.

“We were the hot favourites to host Asia Cup 2020 if it was going to be played in September but now it appears that some countries are not interested in travelling so therefore it may not take place in September,” said SLC secretary Mohan de Silva.

“The ACC has not given us the hosting rights officially because they themselves want to verify from the rest of the countries their willingness to play in September. Sri Lanka and UAE were considered as the two venues, and the ACC found that the UAE was more expensive than Sri Lanka and we were the favourites as a result,” he said.

“If the Asia Cup cannot take place in September the ACC may defer naming the host country and even the dates as there is an issue going on with the ICC not confirming the World T20 dates and India awaiting till that is confirmed to announce their IPL dates.” (ST).