'Even if Sourav Ganguly passes comments every week, they don't hold merit' - PCB on Asia Cup 2020 cancellation

The BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, on Wednesday, confirmed that the Asia Cup this year has been cancelled. His statement came amidst the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently confirming that the tournament will be going ahead as planned. PCB had also stated that it will happen either in Sri Lanka or the UAE. Ganguly’s latest statement hasn’t gone down well with PCB it seems.

The board’s media director Samiul Hasan Burney has cleared that the final decision on the matter will be made by the Asian Cricket Council. He also went on to say that Ganguly’s comments won’t matter at all in this regard. Asia Cup is scheduled to be played in September this year but the ongoing pandemic has disrupted the international schedule.

Moreover, the PCB and the BCCI is at loggerheads for quite some time now over the same with the latter stating that there is no point in playing Asia Cup if the T20 World Cup is postponed. “In December, we have the first full series. Asia Cup 2020 has been called-off which was scheduled to take place in September,” Ganguly said in an online interview on Wednesday only for Samiul Hasan to say that there will be no impact of his statement.

He also added that Nazmul Hasan, the president of the ACC body, can only make the final decision. “The statements made by Sourav Ganguly have no impact on proceedings. Even if he passes comments every week, they do not hold weight or merit. The decision regarding the Asia Cup will be taken by the ACC.

“The announcement can only be made by the president of the Asian body Nazmul Hasan. To the best of our knowledge, the schedule of the next ACC meeting is yet to be announced,” he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

BCB CEO also opines on the matter

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Nizamuddin Chowdhury also cleared that the ACC is still looking at the other options to stage the tournament if it doesn’t go ahead this year. “As far as I am concerned ACC management is working on Asia Cup 2020. They are also exploring other options if the tournament cannot be hosted on scheduled time,” he said.