Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) hopes of hosting the 2020 Asia Cup received a huge boost when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officially issued the green light to the island-nation yesterday.
“We are hopeful of having the Asia Cup because Sri Lanka has not had too many cases of the Coronavirus,” PCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wasim Khan had stated during a media conference.
“The Asia Cup will go ahead. The Pakistan team returns from England on September 2. So, we can have the tournament in September or October. There are some things which will only get clear in the due course of time,” he added.
Meanwhile, SLC CEO Ashley de Silva welcomed PCB’s move and said that it would provide a great chance for the home fans to witness some top cricket after a long break.
“The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) of course will have to provide the final decision and all member countries will also need to give their consent to travel, for us to go ahead with the tournament,” de Silva told the Daily News yesterday.
“The countries will have different kinds of travel bans and that is something we will have to assess after another week or two to see whether all the teams can travel,” he emphasised.
Pakistan was the original host of the 2020 Asia Cup, but had agreed to let Sri Lanka conduct the biennial tournament in return for hosting the next regional event due to the rising cases of COVID-19.
In fact, amongst the Asian countries, Sri Lanka has remained as one of the safest places while their neighbours India is gradually developing as the epicentre.
Therefore, Sri Lanka has emerged as the strongest contender to host the 2020 edition of the Asia Cup Cricket Tournament.
The previous edition of the Asia Cup was worked off in September 2018 in the United Arab Emirates with the participation of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
However, Sri Lanka had bitter memories on that occasion where they were knocked out from the ‘Super Four’ after losing both preliminary round fixtures.
The Lankans went down to Bangladesh by a massive 137 runs in their Group ‘B’ opening game and then suffered a shock 91-run defeat at the hands of Afghanistan.
India went on to emerge champions – their seventh title – when they edged out Bangladesh in the final by three wickets in a last-ball thriller.
Sri Lanka last won the Asia Cup way back in 2014 and overall they have clinched the title on five occasions with Pakistan having won the tournament on one occasion.
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