Reports: Asia Cup 2021 to be postponed if India qualifies for WTC final

There are speculations that India is unlikely to take part in the 2021 edition of the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to be hosted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) according to the Future Tours Programme (FTP) in June 2021 in Sri Lanka. This will be the case if India manages to qualify for the final of the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand in June 2021 at Lord’s Cricket Ground in England.

The non-participation of India in the Asia Cup will be a huge blow for the broadcasters and other cricket boards. Thus, it is learned that Asia Cup 2021 is all set to get postponed. The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ehsan Mani revealed that authorities have decided to postpone the Asia Cup 2021 till 2023 if India manages to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final.

The PCB chairman made this revelation while addressing a press conference on Sunday, February 28 in Karachi. Further during the interaction, Ehsan revealed that the Pakistan Cricket Board has written an official letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding the issuing of visas from India for Pakistan players, support staff, and the media.

ICC to host T20 World Cup in UAE if Pakistan doesn’t get visa assurance

PCB wants a written assurance from the BCCI to provide visas to all the Pakistan players to participate in the 2021 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled in India in the month of October and November. The chairman revealed that if India fails to provide assurance to Pakistan, then, ICC has already decided to host the entire tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is likely to take a concrete decision on this whole matter by March 31, 2021.

The PCB official further claimed that apart from the visa issue, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has many problems to solve including problems related to COVID-19 cases and tax exemption issues with the ICC for hosting the T20 World Cup. Ehsan Mani’s statement came after BCCI officials have repeatedly said that visas won’t be a problem for participating in a global event like the World Cup. Coming to the tax issues, BCCI has cleared that they are ready to bear the cost if the Indian government doesn’t provide any leverage on tax.