With every passing day, the possibility of the Asia Cup taking place in Sri Lanka this year looks slim. The fourteenth edition of the competition is scheduled to take place in the Island nation and the final decision on the same will be taken by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) at the end of this month. At present, there are serious doubts over the feasibility of the Asia Cup taking place in the country. Prior to that, Sri Lanka are also scheduled to host Australia for a bilateral series in June-July.
Sri Lanka has witnessed widespread protest over the worsening economic crisis. And the protests have turned extremely violent in recent days. Recently, the authorities imposed an indefinite curfew across the nation and called in the military to help contain the violence. With the situation showing little signs of improvement at the moment, the Asia Cup is likely to be moved out of the country. According to Cricbuzz, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), called up Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Shammi Silva and CEO Ashley de Silva after the violence broke out.
“There is also a likelihood of the SLC officials flying down to India for the IPL final this month-end. A clear picture will emerge by then when a call is expected to be taken with finality,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
Venue gives ACC big headache:
In case, Asia Cup is moved out of Sri Lanka which looks very much likely at the moment, the ACC will have to find an alternative venue. UAE has bee the preferred alternative venue for Asian boards in recent years but the situation is not easy for ACC. The Asia Cup is scheduled to take place in August-September period and the heat in the desert kingdom at that time will pose a big challenge. In such a scenario, ACC might decide to hold the tournament at a different venue. However, moving the event to another country will not be easy too due to the ongoing political tension between India and Pakistan.