Cricket: Postponed Asia Cup to be held in 2023

The Asia Cup 2021 will be held in 2023, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said on Sunday. The tournament, which was scheduled to be held in June this year in Sri Lanka, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ACC said that the tournament cannot be held at any earlier date due to the lack of a window in a packed cricket calendar.

“It would therefore only be feasible for this edition of the tournament to be held in 2023 as there is already an Asia Cup in 2022. Dates for the same will be confirmed in due course,” said the ACC in a statement.

The tournament had originally been scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan but India’s unwillingness to travel to the country led to the event being shifted to Sri Lanka, where it was scheduled to be held in September 2020. However, the tournament was postponed for the first time due to the pandemic.

“The ACC Executive Board, in face of the risks and restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, had made the difficult decision to postpone the Asia Cup 2020 to 2021. Since then, the ACC has been working with its participants and stakeholders to try and ensure that the event is held in the year,” said the ACC.

“However, on account of a packed FTP [Future Tours Programme], it has been concluded that there is no practical window in the year when all the teams would be available to participate. The Board has accordingly considered the matter very carefully and determined that the only way ahead would be to postpone the event.”