The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah revealed that the final decision regarding the debated venue for this year’s Asia Cup will be made after the conclusion of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
According to the details, the final call on the Asia Cup venue will be made on the sidelines of the IPL Final, scheduled on May 28, anticipated to be attended by some high-profile representatives of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
“As of now, the decision with regards to hosting of Asia Cup hasn’t yet been finalised. We are busy with IPL but the top dignitaries of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Bangladesh and Afghanistan Cricket Board are coming to watch the IPL final. We will have a discussion and take a final decision in due course,” Jay Shah told Press Trust of India (PTI).
This year’s Asia Cup is originally scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan. However, the BCCI refused to send their team to Pakistan for the continental event on political grounds.
The BCCI since then made several efforts to take the hosting rights from Pakistan and to hold Asia Cup at a neutral venue.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was determined not to give away the hosting rights of the tournament and thus the chairman of the PCB management committee Najam Sethi came up with a hybrid model.
As per the PCB-proposed model, Pakistan will host the four to six group matches which will feature Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Afghanistan.
In the latest turn of events, the ACC sources have reportedly accepted the PCB’s hybrid model which involves India playing all their matches at neutral venues.
Furthermore, the PCB aims to host the second phase of the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) reportedly raised reservations over the aforementioned venue due to extreme heat in the region.
“ACC head Jay Shah will summon an executive body meeting where a formal announcement will take place. The PCB doesn’t mind playing India at a neutral venue,” an ACC source told PTI.
“While they would prefer Dubai because it would lead to more gate receipts, it is open to playing in another country (read Sri Lanka) provided the ACC matches the gate receipts amount (USD 0. 5 million) that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) received in 2022 from the Indo-Pak games in Dubai,” the ACC source added.
It is worth mentioning here that the potential window for this year’s Asia Cup is from September 1 to 11.
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