The 15th edition of the Asia Cup will be played in Sri Lanka next year, after Island’s Cricket Board was Thursday awarded the hosting rights of the tournament , Cricket Age exclusively learns. The matches to be played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
Originally scheduled to be held in September 2020, the tournament was postponed in July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then re-scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in June 2021.
“During a meeting held of Asian Cricket Council (ACC), held in Dubai today, it was unanimously decided to play Asia Cup in Sri Lanka” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.
In June 2020, following a meeting with the ACC, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said they would be willing to let Sri Lanka host the tournament, with India unwilling to travel to neighbor country. The ACC issued a press release following the meeting stating that “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”.
On 8 July 2020, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly stated that the tournament had been cancelled, although no official confirmation had been made by the ACC. The following day, an official announcement of the postponement was made.
In March 2021, the tournament was at risk of a further postponement after India qualified for the final of the World Test Championship, which is scheduled to clash with the proposed dates in June.
India are the defending champions.
