United Arab Emirates likely to host 2020 Asia Cup

At an Asian Cricket Council meeting in Dhaka, the Pakistan Cricket Board was given the rights to host the Asia Cup in 2020.

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United Arab Emirates likely to host 2020 Asia Cup
The 2018 Asia Cup was played in the UAE (BCCI Photo)

In Short

  • Pakistan Cricket Board gets 2020 Asia Cup hosting rights
  • The tournament could be be played in the UAE as India may not travel to Pakistan
  • The 2020 Asia Cup is expected to be played in September in T20 format

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) could again host for the next edition of the Asia Cup in 2020. At an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Dhaka, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was given the rights to host the event.

This year, the cricket tournament was originally scheduled in India with BCCI playing the hosts but Pakistan's participation was an issue considering the prevailing political situation between the neighbouring countries.

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The event was moved to the UAE, with BCCI handing over its hosting rights to the Emirates Cricket Board. The multi-nation tournament was played from September 15 to 28 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Besides India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong took part in the event.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) representative acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary was also part of the meeting that gave Pakistan the hosting rights. However, it's unlikely BCCI will accede to PCB's demand of playing cricket in Pakistan.

"At one level there is the case of an Indian team unable to play cricket in Pakistan due to prevailing political environment. As important is the refusal of participating teams to visit Pakistan due to security reasons. The Asia Cup is two years away but they have been reminded that the Indian team's participation in Pakistan is completely dependent on the position the government of the day takes," a BCCI source told India Today.

BCCI took this very position before the ICC's dispute resolution committee and won the case after PCB had made an INR 447 crore compensation claim in failing to honour a MOU of playing bilateral cricket in Pakistan.

The BCCI had also refused to send it's representative at an ACC meet in Lahore due to the prevailing tensions between the two countries.

The PCB on its part continues to posture publicly that efforts are on to have more and more international cricket in Pakistan and visiting teams are opening up to the idea following improved security situation.

The 2020 Asia Cup is expected to be played in September in T20 format ahead of the World Twenty20 later in the year in Australia.