PCB Chief Ehsan Mani Confirmed That The Tournament Was Cancelled:
On the occasion of his birthday, the Chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) and former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly announced the postponement of this year’s Asia Cup due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Although the Pakistan Cricket Board ( PCB) retained hosting rights for the tournament, the first announcement was unexpectedly made by the BCCI Chairman. Not long after Ganguly ‘s comments, however, Chief Ehsan Mani of the PCB also announced that the Asia Cup had been called off this year.
“Asia Cup cancel ho chuka hai, jo September me tha (the Asian Cup was canceled in September),” Ganguly said at the Instagram live session on Wednesday.
The PCB was in talks with the UAE and Sri Lanka as potential sites for this year’s Asia Cup, given that the COVID-19 graph in those countries showed encouraging signs.
Nonetheless, after carrying out a risk evaluation of organizing a multi-team tournament, the Board agreed to cancel the event entirely. Sri Lanka will host the Asia Cup next year as part of the negotiations that have taken place, while Pakistan will have rights for the 2022 edition.
“The Asian Cricket Council is looking to arrange it next year. It’s too risky to host it this year. We’ve been exchanging the game with Sri Lanka this year because it’s one of the least affected (in South Asia) by the virus,” the seasoned administrator told the leading sports website.
Mani denied having a political agenda behind the decision to postpone the tournament and claimed that it had been made to keep players’ health in mind.
“Initially we were going to host it, but when I looked at the situation of COVID in the UAE and Pakistan and other South Asian countries, Sri Lanka was the only country ahead of the loop and most likely to do so.
“So Sri Lanka Cricket and PCB discussed it, we put the swap plan to the ACC, and it was accepted by the Commission. There was no agenda, it was only to maintain cricket and nothing else,” Mani added.
The 2020 T20 World Cup is also predicted to have the same fate as the Asia Cup. According to Ganguly, an announcement on the schedule of the showpiece event is scheduled to be made by the International Cricket Council in mid-July.
Development will give the BCCI a wider window to schedule the 13th season of the Indian Premier League ( IPL) this year. As things stand at the moment, the Indian Board will only see its members playing in the T20 League and bilateral assignments for the remainder of the year.
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