Decision to cancel Asia Cup extends beyond India and Pakistan, attests Ehsan Mani

04/15/2020

Ehsan Mani, the chairman of the PCB, has stated that a final decision about the Asia Cup cannot just be taken by Indian and Pakistan and added that there are other countries that will have a say. Mani believes that hosting the Asia Cup is a necessity for smaller nations to grow financially.

While the future of both the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the World T20 looks uncertain, a tournament that is sandwiched between the two and might suffer the most is the Asia Cup. With the Covid-19 pandemic bringing Cricket to a standstill, the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to be played in September, looks highly unlikely to go ahead as planned and aside from the confusion and conflict over the host country of the tournament, the pandemic has also now added to its woes.

But in the wake of speculation that the tournament might be cancelled to accommodate the IPL, PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani has asserted that the call over the future of the tournament will have to be taken by multiple nations, not just India and Pakistan.

“I have read and heard about these speculations but right now just remember that having or not having the Asia Cup is not a decision between Pakistan and India it involves other countries as well,” Mani was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

With the Asia Cup also set to feature smaller countries such as Hong Kong that are part of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Mani is of the opinion that the tournament should go ahead as planned in order to help small countries grow financially and added that it might be crucial for their growth and development in the next couple of years.

“…it is important to have the Asia Cup if cricket activities resume by then because development of Asian cricket depends on funding from the tournament. It is important for many countries who are members of the Asian Cricket Council.

“But if the conditions change and we can have the Asia Cup, it must be held as earnings from it are distributed as development funds to member countries for next two years.”

The ongoing pandemic is set to create a ripple in the economic stability of several cricketing boards, but the PCB chairman revealed that the board is set to receive around USD 7 to 8 million from the ICC and asserted that PCB is well prepared to come out of this crisis unscathed.

“Pakistan is fortunate it has good financial controls in place and in short term, it will be better off than most countries if the lockdowns continue because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are to get 7 to 8 Million dollars from the ICC in June but we know they might not come so we have planned accordingly.”