Asia Cup 2020 postponed till June 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic

The Asia Cup, which was supposed to be held in September 2020, has been postponed till June 2021 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced on Thursday.

The ACC tried their best to find a suitable window for the tournament this year despite the current situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the executive board of the council could not come up with a viable way to host the tournament.

“From the onset the Board was keen on organising the tournament as per the original schedule. However, travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements, fundamental health risks and social distancing mandates have posed as substantial challenges to the holding of the Asia Cup,” ACC said in a statement read.

Asia Cup likely to be played in June 2021: ACC

The ACC mentioned the importance of the safety of the players and staff involved as the main reason to postpone the tournament.

However, they are optimistic about the chances of the tournament happening in June of next year with Sri Lanka as the country to likely host the tournament.

“Above all, the risks related to health and safety of participating players, support staff, commercial partners, fans and the cricketing community were deemed to be significant. Accordingly, the Board, after careful consideration of all the above factors, has determined that the Asia Cup 2020 be postponed. The ACC is currently working towards securing June 2021 as a suitable window for the same," the statement further read.

BCCI President and former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly had already made this announcement in his Instagram live chat with sports reporter Vikrant Gupta on July 8.

But media director of the Pakistan Cricket Board Samiul Hasan Burney, said that the final decision was in the hands of the ACC.

The ACC also announced that the Pakistan Cricket Board would swap the hosting rights of the Asia Cup with the Sri Lankan cricket board. This meant that with Sri Lanka possibly hosting the tournament in June 2021, the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup will be hosted by PCB.