Asia Cup will be held as scheduled in Sri Lanka or UAE, says PCB CEO Wasim Khan

Pakistan, the original hosts of the 2020 Asia Cup, are desperate to organise the tournament this year, come what may. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), who agreed to take the T20 tournament out of Pakistan since India refused to travel there, have once again claimed that the Asia Cup will go ahead as scheduled in the month of September in either Sri Lanka or the UAE.

PCB CEO Wasim Khan rejected speculation that the Asia Cup could be scrapped to make space for the currently suspended Indian Premier League (IPL).

Asia Cup to go ahead per schedule

“The Asia Cup will go ahead. The Pakistan team returns from England on 2nd September so we can have the tournament in September or October,” Wasim Khan said at a media conference in Karachi.

“There are some things which will only get clear in the due course of time. We are hopeful of having the Asia Cup because Sri Lanka has not had too many cases of the Coronavirus. If they can’t do it, then UAE is also ready,” the PCB CEO added.

Wasim Khan added that the original hosts Pakistan had agreed to let Sri Lanka conduct the tournament in return for hosting the next regional event.

He also confirmed that the Pakistan board is working on options to play cricket in the window for the T20 World Cup if it doesn’t go ahead as planned in October-November.

“We are to go to New Zealand in December after hosting Zimbabwe at home. South Africa are ready to tour in January-February to play two or three Tests and some T20 matches,” Wasim Khan informed.

The PCB CEO said the Pakistan board was looking at a November window for completing the Pakistan Super League’s remaining five matches.

On cricket ties with India, the PCB official was very clear that there was no possibility of bilateral series with India in the immediate future.

“Sadly we need to forget about playing India for the time being. It is sad for us and even the BCCI as they have to get permission from their government. It is not realistic for either side right now to think about playing against each other.

“...the PCB has done its contingency planning and looked at our financial affairs for next two to three years. We are also trying to diversify our commercial streams so that we are not reliant only on ICC shares,” Wasim Khan added.

The PCB official also said that the board had revised its annual budget because of the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and reduced expenses by around Rs one billion.