Not Pakistan but Sri Lanka to host Asia Cup 2021: PCB CEO Wasim Khan

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia Cup 2020 was one of the biggest cricket events to have taken a hit as it got postponed. While Pakistan was scheduled to host the 2020 edition of the Asia Cup, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO Wasim Khan has said that Sri Lanka will host the Asia Cup 2021 with Pakistan hosting the 2022 edition of the event.

The PCB CEO said that Sri Lanka has the rights to host the 2021 Asia Cup. The Asia Cup 2020 was ultimately postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic after several talks on venue and schedule changes. 

"The next Asia Cup will be hosted in Sri Lanka in June and we have got hosting rights now for the 2022 Asia Cup," PCB CEO Wasim Khan was quoted as saying by the PTI.

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According to the original schedule, Pakistan was to host the Asia Cup in August-September 2020 but faced postponement. It has been now pushed to 2021 for which Sri Lanka has the hosting rights and as compensation, Pakistan will host Asia Cup 2022.

The PCB has been working to get back international teams to Pakistan for bilateral series as international cricket resumes in the country. The likes of Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have visited Pakistan to play cricket in the last 12 months with Australia also scheduled to play there soon.

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However, hosting a full-fledged Asia Cup remains a task for PCB given Pakistan and India’s political relationship.

After Asia Cup 2020 was postponed, the BCCI went ahead and conducted the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in the United Arab Emirates with the T20 tournament played behind closed doors keeping COVID-19 protocols in mind.