BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, on Wednesday (July 8), announced that the Asia Cup 2020 has been canceled. The announcement comes ahead of a scheduled Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting on July 9.
“Asia Cup has been cancelled,” Ganguly said, without elaborating if this was a decision taken by the ACC, in an Instagram chat with Vikrant Gupta.
The former India captain did not specify the reason for cancellation but it is understood to be due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation. With T20 World Cup in October-November also unlikely to go ahead in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia Cup’s cancellation allows the BCCI to have a full-fledged IPL in the same window.
When contacted, officials from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed that they were not aware of such a move from the Asian Cricket Council. The tournament was set to be held in the United Arab Emirates in September this year. Pakistan were to host the tournament but India weren’t willing to travel to Pakistan. The BCCI had earlier stated that it didn’t have a problem with Pakistan hosting the Asia Cup, as long as it was held at a neutral venue.
“It’s difficult to say which will be India’s first international series. We’ve done our preparations but we can’t do much till we know the government rules,” said Ganguly. He further mentioned that they were in no hurry as the health of the players was of utmost importance while adding that they were monitoring the situation on a monthly basis.
Ganguly also reiterated the BCCI’s stance that the IPL can happen after a decision is announced by the ICC on the fate of the World T20.
