Asia Cup 2022 to be hosted by Pakistan, PCB set to cross swords with BCCI again?

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is striving to ensure the resurgence of international cricket in the nation. While many teams have been sceptical of touring to the country in recent years, the country earning rights for hosting a major cricketing event could prove to be a significant breakthrough. The board recently affirmed that it is set to host the Asia Cup in 2022, which could be instrumental in changing the fortunes of Pakistan when it comes to hosting cricket matches. 

PCB confirms that Pakistan will host Asia Cup 2022?

Interestingly, the country had the hosting rights for Asia's marquee event for the next year as well. However, they had swapped it with Sri Lanka due to political hostilities with India. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in a statement confirmed their plans of hosting the tournament in June 2021 after it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

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PCB CEO, Wasim Khan was quoted by PTI where he confirmed that Pakistan have obtained the hosting rights for Asia Cup 2022. However, organising a tournament of such an enormous scale will not be easy for the board, considering India's firm stance of not travelling to the country for cricket matches. There also is a possibility that PCB could look to shift the event to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because of the same.

A total of six teams including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and one more qualifying team will feature in the competition. An Asian qualifier competition is likely to be held, where teams based on their ICC rankings will battle it out to claim the sixth spot for the Asia Cup. A total of 13 teams featured in the 2020 Asia Cup qualifier. Teams from China, Bhutan and Myanmar were scheduled to take part in the tournament, however, they withdrew their participation. 

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PCB apprehensive of India hosting the T20 World Cup

Wasim Khan in an interview with Cricket Baaz had indicated his concerns regarding India hosting the seventh edition of the showpiece event due to the COVID-19 situation. He opined that the country could be compelled to shift the competition to the UAE, just like the Indian Premier League. He also revealed that PCB has written to ICC and the BCCI, seeking assurance regarding the visas for their players and support staff for the T20 World Cup. 

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BCCI president Sourav Ganguly posses with the T20 World Cup Trophy

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Image source: Pakistan Cricket Twitter