Asia Cup in UAE unlikely as tournament faces cancellation

BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly says event has been called off due to pandemic, official confirmation yet to be made

Yuzvendra Chahal, centre, of India celebrates after taking the wicket of Imrul Kayes in the Asia Cup final in Dubai in 2018. India beat Bangladesh in the final, and the event was a huge success. Pawan Singh / The National

Liton Das of Bangladesh on his way to a century. Pawan Singh / The National

Kedar Jadhav of India bowls. Pawan Singh / The National

Jadhav celebrates after taking the wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim. Pawan Singh / The National

Jasprit Bumrah of India bowls. Pawan Singh / The National

Das plays a shot. Pawan Singh / The National

Das, left, Bangladesh celebrates after scoring his half century. Pawan Singh / The National

Mehidy Hasan of Bangladesh plays a shot. Pawan Singh / The National

Hasan and Das run between the wickets. Pawan Singh / The National

Hasan takes a run. Pawan Singh / The National

UAE’s prospects of playing in a home Asia Cup are diminishing after it was reported this year’s tournament has been cancelled.

Official confirmation about the status of the competition, which had been due to take place in September 2020, has yet to be announced.

However, Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India was quoted on Wednesday as saying it has been called off due to the pandemic.

The decision could be another indicator that the T20 World Cup is also likely to be shelved because of the health situation.

The ICC are expected to rule this month that the inhibitions on global travel mean the World Cup, scheduled for Australia in October and November, will be postponed.

The Asia Cup is generally played as a precursor to World Cups – alternating between T20 and 50 over formats depending on what global event follows it.

As such, it could yet be postponed until there is greater clarity over the staging of the World Cup.

Pakistan have the hosting rights for the next Asia Cup. With India unwilling to tour there, it had been suggested the competition could be shifted to UAE, as it was when India won it in Dubai two years ago.

The UAE national team are themselves vying for the last qualification berth.

They had been due to tour Malaysia in August, for a four-team qualifying event.

The winning team would advance to the main event, to compete with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.