PCB chief Ehsan Mani
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday announced cancellation of the Asia Cup T20, scheduled to be held in September, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pakistan originally had the hosting rights of the six-team continental event but considering the alarming COVID-19 situation, the PCB board had decided to swap it with Sri Lanka.
"Asia Cup cancel ho chuka hai, jo September me tha (Asia Cup, which was to be held in September, has been cancelled)," Ganguly told 'sports tak' in an instagram live session.
The Pakistan Cricket Bard confirmed that they have agreed to host the event in 2022 and Sri Lanka is now expected to host it next year following the cancelation of this year's edition.
PCB chief Ehsan Mani said the decision was made due to the worsening pandemic.
"The Asian Cricket Council is looking at organising it next year. It is too dangerous to host it this year We had swapped the event with Sri Lanka this year because it is one of the least affected (in South Asia) from the virus," the veteran administrator told PTI.
Mani said there was no politics behind the postponement and the decision was taken purely on safety grounds.
"We were originally going to host it but when I looked at the COVID situation in UAE and Pakistan and other South Asia countries, the only country which was ahead of the cycle was Sri Lanka and most likely to conduct the event.
"So Sri Lanka Cricket and PCB discussed it, we put the swap proposal to the ACC and it was approved by the board. There was no politics, it was just for sake of preserving cricket and nothing else," Mani added.
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.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) met last month to decide on the road ahead for the continental event but no decision was taken.
