Asia Cup 2022 could move out to UAE from Sri Lanka amid political turmoil: The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup, which is slated to be held in Sri Lanka, could be moved out of its original venue due to the political fluidity in the island nation. As per the reports, there are strong chances that the six-nation tournament to shift to the UAE.
The sources in the know of development inform that the discussions to shift the tournament out of Sri Lanka have begun between the Asian Cricket Council and Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). The Sri Lankan cricket board (SLC) has been kept in the loop to undergo a smooth change.
It has been learnt that the schedule and dates for the Asia Cup 2022 will be kept the same even if the tournament is shifted out of Sri Lanka. As per the originally released schedule, the Asia Cup 2022 will begin from August 26 to September 11.
The situation worsened in Sri Lanka pretty quickly in the last one week. Nationwide protests have been carried out, the sitting President fled the country and a new leader is being installed.
The situation was different in the last few weeks when SLC agreed to host the multi-nation tournament. However, as the crisis getting escalated, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is in talks to move the tournament out of the island nation.
“In such a scenario, it is being felt that hosting the championship is not appropriate,” a member of the ACC told Cricbuzz on Saturday (July 16).
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However, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has projected a different scenario for this situation:
“Our first preference is to support Sri Lanka and play the Asia Cup there. If this tournament does not take place in Sri Lanka, it will be a huge cricketing and financial loss for them. Australia’s recent tour of Sri Lanka went off without any problems,” said PCB CEO.
“Similarly, there have been no issues with the on-going Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka as we are constantly in touch with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and our embassy in the country. Our discussions with the ACC representatives have suggested that the tournament is on track at the moment as they are monitoring the situation very carefully and we will support their decision,” Faisal Hasnain, PCB CEO, said.
This year’s Asia Cup will be conducted in the T20 format in view of preparing for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
The most anticipated India vs Pakistan fixture in the Asia Cup 2022 will be held on August 28.
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