Asia Cup 2023 set to be moved from Pakistan to Sri Lanka, final decision by end of this month - Reports

Originally, Pakistan hold the hosting rights of the ACC Asia Cup 2023.

Sri Lanka are the front-runners to host the upcoming Asia Cup with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) set to move the tournament from Pakistan as per reports carried by IndianExpress. The decision to shift the event from the original host country, Pakistan became likely from the moment BCCI secretary Jay Shah said that the Indian team would not travel across the border.

While UAE was considered as an option to host the cup like in 2022, the Gulf was ruled out as the venue due to extreme heat in September. Next in line are Sri Lanka, who haven't hosted this event since 2010 - the last time they conducted the event on their shores.

A final decision is yet to be taken on the venue of the event and it is likely that the final venue will be decided by the end of this month with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan's unanimous backing to host the event in the island nation. If this is to happen, we might see a boycott from Pakistan, nothing has been confirmed from their end as well.

Given the political tension between the two nations and India's firm stand on not crossing the borders to play the cup in Pakistan, it seems to be just about time that there will be a shift in the venue with the other sub-continent teams on board with the shift of the venue. After the BCCI refused to travel to Pakistan for the tournament citing lack of clearance from the government, the PCB had proposed a hybrid model to host the Asia Cup where India’s matches alone would be hosted in Dubai.

Pakistan's participation in Asia Cup 2023 still uncertain

Pakistan has shown keen interest to host the Asia Cup 2023 in their country for the first time since 2008. Although BCCI has firmly stated no to traveling across to play in Pakistan due to several reasons, Pakistan put across other options on the table. Other stakeholders and participating nations have also shown interest in the shift of the venue to Sri Lanka from Pakistan. Another venue, UAE was on the cards but was dropped considering the extreme heat conditions during the month of September.

As per the reports making rounds, it is coming out that Pakistan might not feature in the latest edition of Asia Cup 2023 if the venue shifts from their country to Sri Lanka. In light of the current events, if Sri Lanka get to host the tournament, it will be their fifth time only to host the event and the first since 2010. Sri Lanka were the winner of the Asia Cup 2022.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and join our community on Telegram.