The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has recently clarified that it will be not helpful for the Asian teams to raise funds by hosting an Asia Cup without India. So, they are considering to drop their plan to host the Asia Cup 2020 in Pakistan as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not travel in this country.
While the Asia Cup 2020 is around six months away to begin, the hosting venue hasn’t confirmed yet. At first, Pakistan was awarded to host the Asia Cup 2020. But, due to the political tensions, the BCCI can’t send the Indian team in Pakistan. So, if Pakistan hosts this tournament, India will not participate, and it will hugely affect to generating funds for this tournament.
Recently, the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly revealed that the upcoming Asia Cup would be played in Dubai, and both India and Pakistan would participate in this tournament.
However, soon after that, the PCB chief Ehsan Mani claimed that they were still in discussion mode and would take the final call based on the interests of all the Asian countries.
We have decided not to force organisers to hold the Asia Cup in Pakistan: PCB chief
But most recently, the PCB chief has strongly hinted that the upcoming Asia Cup will be hosted outside the Pakistan soil.
Mani told the news.com.pk, “There are so many new cricket-playing nations in Asia and they required funds for that. The organisers get the funds by hosting the Asia Cup. In case India stays out, it is unlikely that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) would generate the required funds. Thus, we have decided not to force organisers to hold the Asia Cup in Pakistan.”
However, Mani has also reminded that Pakistan is now hosting the complete Pakistan Super League (PSL) which proves that they can host any tournament without any outside help.
He added, “We have been hosting international events and the PSL also. We have proved that we can host these events without any outside help.”
After the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus, Pakistan hugely struggled to host international cricket. From 2015, the country started to host international matches, but it was improving slowly. Only last December, the country hosted the first Test match since 2009. At present, Pakistan is also hosting full international series against Bangladesh.
On the other hand, Asia Cup 2020 will be played in T20I format as it will be organised as the preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020. While Asia Cup 2020 will be played in September, Australia will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 from 18th October to 15th November 2020.