Pakistan win hosting rights to 2020 Asia Cup as final venue remains unclear

Waseem Ahmed 10:55 15/12/2018
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  • The Asia Cup could be held in the UAE once again.

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been awarded the hosting rights to the 2020 Asia Cup although it remains unclear as to where the tournament will be held.

    On Thursday, Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Nazmul Hassan confirmed that the PCB would host the 2020 edition of the tournament which will once again be held in the T20 format.

    “The 2020 Asia Cup will take place in Pakistan. They will tell us where we’ll be holding it, since they are the hosts. India hosted it last time, but it was held in the UAE,” Hassan said to the Dhaka Tribune.

    With bilateral cricketing relations between Pakistan and India at a standstill currently, there exists every possibility that the 2020 Asia Cup could be held on a neutral venue like the UAE.

    The 2018 edition of the tournament was held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai after the BCCI had come to an arrangement with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).

    PCB chairman Ehsan Mani.

    PCB chairman Ehsan Mani.

    With the BCCI’s reluctance to conduct bilateral matches between the two countries, India and Pakistan have been restricted to facing off against each other in multi-team tournaments like the World Cup and the Asia Cup.

    The ongoing ACC Emerging Asia Cup was set to be initially held in Pakistan but is now also being jointly hosted by Sri Lanka. That move came after the BCCI refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan.

    “We have a long programme to develop Asian cricket. We want to start from u-16 and u-19 to the Asia Cup,” PCB chairman and ACC chief developmental officer Ehsan Mani stated on his part.

    “It’s not about cricket only but also about developing our umpires, match referees. Our main focus is to strengthen cricket of Asia which is the strongest area for [world] cricket. Afghanistan invested a lot for cricket and thus they became the full member nation of the ICC. We’re searching for more nations,” he added.

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