Under-19 Asia Cup schedule postponed to September 2018, venue yet to be confirmed

The Under-19 Asia Cup which was scheduled to be held in June 2018 has been moved to Malaysia from India. Bangalore was the decided venue, but the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) came up with a decision that it will now take place in Kuala Lumpur. While the Council made this announcement, they did not reveal the expected postponement of the tournament.

Details:

There was a discussion between the officials of the four Asian cricket boards – India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh about moving the tournament to September 2018 from the month of June. However, the ACC has kept themselves away from confirming the matter. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has voted for the postponement of the 50 over tournament but of immediate relevance here is the Media Rights Agreement (MRA) with Star.

Everything is in a state of a doubt at the moment and no one knows where will it be held finally. India was the decided venue but things now seem to be unclear. There is no guarantee whether the Indian government will allow the Pakistan team to fly to India just as it did not give permission, in time, for the U-19 Asia Cup.

It would not be a cakewalk for the ACC to take the tournament out of India because of its contract with the stakeholders. Considering the craze with cricket India, the broadcasters want the tournament to take place in the country. If the ACC decided to change the venue and the date, the stakeholders who are contracted till 2023 might renegotiate the deal.

The seven-year deal that was agreed in the year of 2016, was a venue specific one. the message has been put forward to the ACC.

While the BCCI and Star officials were not present, one of the stakeholders pointed out that the ACC is hopeful of getting the green signal from the government. “We know that bilateral series (vs Pakistan) are not being permitted but there are precedents for multi-nation events. For example last year’s World Twenty20,” said an insider. However, no one knows if the Indian cricketer board are equally confident about the matter.