Sri Lanka will host 2021 Asia Cup, Pakistan the 2022 edition: PCB CEO Wasim Khan

According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO Wasim Khan, the 2021 edition of the Asia Cup will be held in Sri Lanka while the hosting rights of the 2022 edition are with Pakistan.

The 2020 edition of the Asia Cup was scheduled to be held earlier this year in August-September. But the tournament became one of the many victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, and had to be postponed. The event was supposed to be held in Pakistan.

“The next Asia Cup will be hosted in Sri Lanka in June and we have got hosting rights now for the 2022 Asia Cup,” Khan was quoted as saying in a Times Now report.

Earlier, Wasim Khan had also claimed that the 2021 T20 World Cup could be shifted from India to the UAE owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview on the Cricket Baaz YouTube channel, Khan had said, "There is still some uncertainty over the World T20 being held in India…yes because of the Covid situation there. It could be in UAE.”

Meanwhile, the Pakistan team, captained by Babar Azam, is presently in New Zealand for a bilateral series. With some of their members testing positive for COVID-19, question marks have been raised over the series. As per some reports, New Zealand have issued a final warning to Pakistan over breach of safety protocols.

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A brief history of the Asia Cup

Organised by the Asian Cricket Council, the inaugural Asia Cup was held in Sharjah in 1984. Since then, it has mostly been held as a biennial ODI event.

Although the 2016 edition was organised as a T20I tournament for the first time in Bangladesh, the 2018 Asia Cup in the UAE was again played in the one-day format.

India are the most successful team in the Asia Cup, having won the title on seven occasions (six ODI and one T20). The Men in Blue are followed by Sri Lanka, who have won it five times.

Sri Lanka’s explosive former opener Sanath Jayasuriya (1220) has scored the most runs, while Lasith Malinga has picked up the most wickets (33) in the Asia Cup.