Asia Cup 2023 expected to move out of Pakistan, Sri Lanka likely to host tournament

Asia Cup 2023 is likely to be held in Sri Lanka, sources have told IndiaToday. The tournament was earlier expected to be played in Pakistan. 

 


In Short

  • The Asia Cup is likely to move out of Pakistan
  • Jay Shah had told back in 2022 that India are unlikely to travel to Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka are expected to host the tournament in 2023

By India Today Sports Desk: Asia Cup 2023 is expected to move out of Pakistan, sources in the know have told India Today on Tuesday, 9 May. The 2022 Asia Cup finalists were originally scheduled to host the tournament, but with India not travelling to the venue has brought in challenges. There were proposals to play they tournament in a hybrid model, with Pakistan playing all their matches at home while India played on a neutra venue like the United Arab Emirates.

As per the latest developments, the tournament could be shifted entirely to a new country, with Sri Lanka coming up as the front runner to host the tournament.

"Final decision on the venue is likely to be taken in another round of meeting of ACC next month most likely," the source told India Today.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi had earlier proposed a hybrid model to host the Asia Cup where India’s matches alone would be hosted in Dubai.

"We have made it very clear that unless the Asia Cup is held on a hybrid model like we have proposed, that is India playing its matches at an offshore venue and Pakistan hosting the remaining games at home, we will not accept any other schedule and neither play," Sethi had said in April 2023.From the Indian side, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) honourary secretary Jay Shah had made it clear in 2022 that India were not going to travel to Pakistan. But since then there has not been a clear reply from the BCCI on the developments in respect to the tournament.

"The Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue," Shah told media after the BCCI's AGM. "I am saying this as ACC President. We [India] can't go there [to Pakistan], they can't come here. In the past also, Asia Cup has been played at a neutral venue," Jay Shah had said in 2022.

A tournament hosted in Sri Lanka will give the defending champions a significant advantage in home conditions. In recent times teams have found it difficult to win series in Sri Lanka owing to the slow and spin-helping conditions.

Asia Cup 2023: Pakistan likely to PULL OUT of Asia Cup as jinxed tournament set to be shifted to Sri Lanka, Follow LIVE Updates

Asia Cup 2023: It has been decided. The Asia Cup 2023 after all the conflicts between BCCI and the PCB will now be moved out of Pakistan. Sri Lanka will now be the next destination. The BCCI previously made it clear that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan to play the tournament. After much debate, it was decided that India will play the tournament at a neutral venue. But now, it looks that Pakistan will pull out of the hosts of the tournament and Sri Lanka is set to host the upcoming tournament.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faced a massive blow when SriLanka and Bangladesh decided to side with BCCI in their bid to move the Asia Cup away from Pakistan. And now in all likelihood, it is about to take place. The decision is yet to be finalised and the official decision is set to be taken by the end of the month.

It is now unclear about Pakistan’s stand on the matter. It can be understood that Pakistan just might go on and boycott the tournament. Trouble rose when the BCCI made it clear that India will not travel to Pakistan citing security concerns and not obtaining clearance from the government. To this a hybrid system was suggested by the PCB. It was proposed that India’s matches will be held at a neutral venue, i.e Dubai.

But that option has not been feasible. With a busy schedule and the ICC World Cup just a month after the Asia Cup along with crazy summer in the Gulf, Dubai and Oman was ruled out as hosts. It was then decided that SriLanka will be an ideal place to host the tournament.

Last year SriLanka went on to be the champions but they lost their hosting right on account of political unrest and economic crisis. But this year if Pakistan goes on to boycott the tournament, it will go on to complicate matters regarding their participation in the World Cup set to be held in India.