Cricket News: Asia Cup 2022- Will UAE host it?
On Wednesday, 20th July 2022, the Sri Lanka cricket board informed the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) that the board would not be in a position to host the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup because of the severity of the ongoing political and economic crisis in the country
Indian cricketers celebrate ICC World Cup Trophy beating ICC Cricket World Cup 2011An ACC source said, “Sri Lankan cricket has conveyed that due to the existing political and economic situation in their country specially where foreign exchange is concerned it is not an ideal situation for them to host such a mega-event of six teams in the island.”
Earlier, the Sri Lanka Cricket board affirmed that they have managed to comfortably host Australian men, Indian Women and Pakistan men’s tours and are confident about hosting the Asia cup. But now, the development has come after SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket board) postponed the third edition of the Lanka Premier League owing to an ongoing crisis.
SLC chief executive officer Ashley de Silva said, “Hosting two teams is not the same as hosting ten teams. You have to provide ten buses with fuel for all of them. You have to give every team a luggage van with fuel, and transport for the managers. You also have to give the sponsors transport and ensure that they are getting the mileage that they want from their sponsorship. The fuel for the generators to run the floodlights will also have to be found.”
“There are also two India vs Pakistan matches, and there will be people who want to travel and watch those matches. People might not be happy to travel to Sri Lanka because of the situation,” he added.
SLC officials said they would like to host the event in the UAE or another country.
Asian Cricket Council will likely announce in the next few days as the tournament is scheduled to begin on 27th August 2022. According to early speculations, UAE’s name emerged as the potential venue for the Asia Cup but is yet not final. The official quoted, “UAE is not the final replacement venue, it could be some other country, even India as the ACC, Sri Lanka cricket will first have to talk with Emirates Cricket Board officials to get final approval for the event.”
There are limited options with ACC, considering June to September is monsoon season over most of the Indian subcontinent. UAE has proven to be a successful substitute venue for many major leagues, but late August and early September generally witness extreme temperature conditions. It will be difficult for the council, with just a few weeks left for the tournament to commence.