KUALA LUMPUR, May 11: Pakistan will host the Asia Cup one-day tournament in February next year and the home side will be pitted against their arch-rivals in the same group, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said on Wednesday.

Pakistan, who had never hosted the biennial event due to its sporting deadlock with India, will stage the tournament from Feb 14-26, a council official said.

The two-day executive board meeting is being attended by representatives from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Nepal.

Joining Pakistan and India in Group ‘A’ will be Oman, the runners-up of the ACC Trophy last year.

Sri Lanka, winners of the event they hosted last year, Bangladesh and ACC trophy winners the UAE are placed in Group ‘A’.

The first round matches will be played in Rawalpindi and Karachi while the second round and the final will be played in Lahore.

The top two teams from the second phase will qualify for the Feb 26 final.

India, who won the inaugural Asia Cup held in Sharjah in 1983, has won the event four times, Sri Lanka three times and Pakistan has won once.

The ACC has also decided that the Asian Test championship would be revived in 2007 and would last for 30 days.

All four Asian Test playing countries — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — took part in the two Asian Test championships held in 1998-99 and in 2001-02.

The event could not be held subsequently due to the hectic international schedule.

Pakistan won the first Asian Test championship and Sri Lanka the second.—AFP