Bangladesh’s Sylhet to host 2022 Women’s Asia Cup

Seven countries will compete in the T20 competition at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Bangladesh from October 1 to 16, hosting the Women’s Asia Cup in 2022.

The competition will begin following the conclusion of the 2022 Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE in the final week of September. The first two weeks of October were designated for this year’s Women’s Asia Cup in the ICC’s first-ever Women’s Future Tours Programme, which was unveiled last week.

India, the most successful team in the competition’s history, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and the UAE will arrive in Bangladesh on September 27 and September 28, according to the tournament schedule.

Bangladesh has not hosted any women’s international matches since Pakistan’s visit to the nation in October 2018. The 2022 Asia Cup will also mark Sylhet’s first hosting of any international women’s matches since the 2014 T20 World Cup.

BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told on Tuesday that “We will host the Asia Cup in Sylhet and as we have successfully hosted ICC events, we are quite hopeful that we can host the tournament over there.”

Chowdhury stated that discussions between the BCB and the ICC to hold the knockout rounds of the world event at the Sylhet International Stadium are solidifying in light of Bangladesh’s recent selection by the ICC as the hosts of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup.

The Women’s Asia Cup, which has been contested in the T20 format since 2012, is typically held every two years, however it was recently held in 2018 when underdog Bangladesh defeated six-time champion India in a nail-biting final ball match to claim their first major championship. Originally slated to take place in Bangladesh in 2020 but later moved to 2021, the 2020 edition was ultimately cancelled.

UAE and Malaysia secured their spots among the seven teams scheduled to compete by winning the qualifying round for the 10-team ACC Women’s T20 Championship that took place in June. UAE, the competition’s unbeaten and eventual winners, defeated Malaysia in the championship match by a margin of five wickets.