Amidst speculation on the fate of the Asian Cricket Council’s Asia Cup T20 tournament this year, Sri Lanka Cricket has reportedly confirmed that the Island nation has got the nod to stage the continental event.
President Shammi Silva has claimed that Sri Lanka Cricket has been given a green signal to stage the tournament that was to be originally hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board in the UAE during September, ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia for October-November.
“We had a discussion with PCB and they have already agreed to our hosting this edition due to the present world situation. We had an online ACC meeting today (8 June) and they basically gave us the green light to host the tournament,” Sri Lanka Cricket president Shammi Silva told Ceylon Today.
Sri Lanka Cricket will now speak to the national Government and present a plan about dealing with the threat of COVID-19 virus.
India will be defending their title in the six-team tournament, that will also feature Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the winner of the qualifying tournament.
Meanwhile, Asian Cricket Council has not made any formal announcement on the Asia Cup tournament after its executive board’s teleconference, where president Sourav Ganguly and honorary secretary Jay Shah represented the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
It is reported that the ACC will wait for the International Cricket Council’s decision on the T20 World Cup in Australia (October-November) before taking a call on the Asia Cup.
“In particular the Board emphasised on the importance of holding the Asia Cup 2020. 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,” an ACC press release stated after the meeting on Monday.
Another report also suggested that there were discussions regarding postponement but no consensus could be reached as far as alternate dates were concerned.