KARACHI: The chances of this year’s Asia Cup getting staged have almost faded but Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) — the host of the tournament — has not been officially communicated anything as yet.

Some relevant quarters in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) are claiming that this year’s Asia Cup had been postponed.

“As we speak the Asia Cup has been deferred for an indefinite period of time”, an official well aware of the ACC decisions told this correspondent.

Meanwhile, the president of Board Of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday announced that the continental marquee tournament has been cancelled.

Ganguly’s statement was not received well at the PCB where an official said that since Pakistan are the host of the event, therefore the announcement about it’s fate should have been made by the PCB.

“BCCI neither holds the chair of the ACC nor is the host of the Asia Cup, then why did Ganguly make this announcement,” the PCB official asked.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was also in talks with Sri Lanka cricket board to swap the hosting rights of this year’s Asia Cup with the next edition, which is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in 2022.

There are reports that the BCCI was also planning to hold the Indian Premier League (IPL) either in the UAE or Sri Lanka.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2020