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Picture Credit: ACC

The executive board of Asian Cricket Council have decided the fate of the 2021 edition of Asia Cup, which was supposed to be held in Sri Lanka. In light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Sri Lanka Cricket had decided to postpone this year's event to a later date. But, on account of a busy international calendar, the ACC have come to a verdict that they will have to shift the tournament to 2023 as there is already a plan in place for the 2022 edition.

India qualifying for WTC Final could be one of the reasons behind the decision

PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani had told earlier in a press conference in Karachi that Sri Lanka were trying to host the tournament in June this year. However, since India qualified for the WTC Final, which is scheduled to take place from June 18 onwards in England, it was not feasible to conduct the Asia Cup in that window. "On account of a packed FTP, it has been concluded that there is no practical window in the year when all the teams would be available to participate. The Board has accordingly considered the matter very carefully and determined that the only way ahead would be to postpone the event," stated ACC in an official statement.

Where will the 2022 and 2023 editions of Asia Cup be held?

It had been reported earlier that Pakistan will be hosting Asia Cup 2022. ACC also mentioned that the next year's plan is already set, which is why the 2021 edition of Asia Cup is being postponed to 2023. In that case, it looks like that the 2022 Asia Cup will be hosted by Pakistan and the 2023 edition will be hosted by Sri Lanka. Notably, the last Asia Cup happened in the year 2018, which was hosted by the United Arab Emirates. India had defeated Bangladesh in the finals to clinch their 7th title in the tournament.