Women's Asia Cup set to return, Bangladesh to host the tournament in October

Bangladesh is all set to host the Women’s Asia Cup 2022 in the T20I format from October 1-16 and a total of seven teams will fight for the prestigious trophy. The final schedule and other details are yet to be announced by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), but it is reportedly being said that India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and UAE will be the other six teams apart from Bangladesh.

The competition will begin following the conclusion of the 2022 Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE in the final week of September. The first two weeks of October have been designated for this year’s Women’s Asia Cup in the ICC’s first-ever Women’s Future Tours Programme, which was unveiled last week.

Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel, the chairperson of Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) women’s committee, revealed the aforementioned dates for the Asia Cup to ESPNcricinfo. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event that was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 was moved to 2021 instead. The event ultimately had to be cancelled as things got worse.

The Women’s Asia Cup is typically held every two years, but the pandemic situation made the scheduling difficult. The tournament has been held in the 20-over format since 2012. The Sylhet International Cricket Stadium will host the tournament, with ground 1 designated for matches and ground 2 for training.

“The proximity to the airport and the hotel where the seven teams are expected to stay makes the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium the best choice for the BCB. Ground 1 of the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium is where we are looking to host the Women’s Asia Cup matches and Ground 2 is where the training will take place,” Chowdhury, who is also a BCB director, told ESPNcricinfo on Monday.

We are happy to welcome the Asian Cricket Council’s Women’s Asia Cup to our country for the first time: BCB Chair Shafiul Alam Chowdhury

Bangladesh has not hosted any women’s international matches since Pakistan‘s visit to the nation in October 2018. The 2022 Asia Cup will also mark Sylhet’s first hosting of any international women’s matches since the T20 World Cup 2014. Bangladesh will also be hosting the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2024 which is another boost for the nation.

“As host nation, Bangladesh has delivered several major men’s and women’s continental and world events in the past. This year, we are happy to welcome the Asian Cricket Council’s Women’s Asia Cup to our country for the first time, specifically to Sylhet, which was home to matches during the 2014 men’s and women’s T20 World Cups, too,” Chowdhury added.