On Thursday, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) went on to announce that the Asia Cup 2020 which was originally scheduled to take place in September this year has been postponed till 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,  said on Thursday. The ACC said in a statement it is hoping to stage the Twenty20 competition, which will feature six countries including India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, in June next year. As per the reports in ESPNCricinfo, ACC is looking at a window in June 2021 to host the tournament.

Releasing a statement regarding the same, ACC said, “From the onset, the ACC was keen on organizing the tournament as per the original schedule. However, travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements… have posed substantial challenges to the holding of the Asia Cup.”

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It further added, “Above all, the risks related to health and safety of participating players, support staff, commercial partners, fans and the cricketing community were deemed to be significant. Accordingly, the Board, after careful consideration of all the above factors, has determined that the Asia Cup 2020 be postponed.”

The ACC said Pakistan, who was scheduled to host the tournament this year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has decided to exchange the hosting rights with Sri Lanka, who will stage next year’s event, while the Pakistan Cricket Board will host the 2022 edition.

On Wednesday, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had unofficially announced that the Asia Cup 2020 has been canceled during an Instagram Live with Sports Tak. However, he hadn’t provided ant reason behind the same. 

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During an Instagram live session with ‘Sports Tak’, Sourav said, “In December, we have the first full series. Asia Cup 2020 has been called-off which was scheduled to take place in September.”