PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani opens up about the possibility of Asia Cup 2020

The coronavirus crisis has caused many matches to be cancelled. Most of the cricket matches since March have seen the fate of cancellation after the outbreak of COVID-19. Close to 1 lakh people have already lost their lives to this dangerous disease while more than 1.6 million people have been affected.

Due to the rise in the number of cases, all countries have into lockdown. Most of the government has locked down their borders and are not allowing citizens from other countries to enter. The situation has gotten up to a point where there is no certainty when and how will this global pandemic end. This has forced everyone to start worrying regarding when normalcy will resume.

2020 was going to be a cracking year as far as cricket schedules are concerned, but due to this massive outbreak, there are doubts over several matches and tournament. One of them is the Asia Cup 2020.

PCB Chairman finally clears the air regarding Asia Cup 2020 

As per the rules set by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), this year’s edition of the Asia Cup was supposed to be played in the T20 format. A few years ago, it was decided that the Asia Cup will be played every two years. However, the format of each edition will be decided taking into consideration the next big ICC event. As in 2020, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was already scheduled, the intra-continental cup was supposed to be played in the T20 format. Pakistan holds the hosting rights.

But, due to the COVID-19 crisis, there are clouds of uncertainty over the tournament. Recently, in a statement released by India Today, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani said there no assurance if the tournament will be held considering the situation in the entire world. “There’s uncertainty over the Asia Cup. Nothing has been decided yet. The whole world is in an uncertain state,” PCB chairman Ehsan Mani said as quoted by India Today.

The tournament was supposed to be held in September. Originally, it was supposed to be held in Pakistan but due to the disagreements with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it was decided that the tournament will be played in the United Arab Emirates. Ehsan Mani went on to say that the situation will be clear in a few months, and only then the final decision will be taken.

“You don’t know what it will be like in September. Don’t get me wrong but it will depend on a number of factors. Mere speculation won’t help. Maybe the situation will be clearer in a month’s time”, Mani said.