Reports | Asia Cup 2020 in jeopardy as ACC meeting is postponed due to COVID-19
The 2020 edition of the Asia Cup is in jeopardy as the crucial Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting has been postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. With India adamant on its refusal to travel to Pakistan for any matches, the tournament is reportedly set to be held in UAE again.
With circumstances worldwide becoming worse by the day, the ACC was left with no choice but to postpone its meeting to finalise the possible venues for the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to be played in September. The T20 tournament will be hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), but given there is no chance of India travelling to Pakistan in the prevailing political climate, it was all but certain that the tournament will, once again, be held in the UAE.
The ACC meeting gained importance after BCCI president Sourav Ganguly made India’s stance on the matter clear, while clarifying their willingness to travel to any other neutral venue with the tournament being hosted by the PCB themselves. Pakistan, on the other hand, was desperate to host the tournament on their own soil, as they believed it would do good for the full-fledged return of international cricket to the country. However, under the current circumstances, the PCB is forced to at least consider the option of requesting the ACC executive board to allow it to host some matches — against other teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan.Â
"PCB's stance is that, with international cricket slowly returning to Pakistan, it could benefit from hosting a few games of the Asia Cup at home," a source told PTI.
Due to COVID-19, the deciding party on most things these days, the ACC had to cancel their scheduled meeting once, earlier this month, hoping that discussions will continue on the sidelines of the ICC meetings.Â