Asia Cup 2022 to take place in the UAE, confirms BCCI President Sourav Ganguly

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup will take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Ganguly confirmed the development to ANI on Thursday (July 21) following the culmination of the Apex Council Meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

"Asia Cup will be held in the UAE, as it is the only place where there won't be rain (in that duration)," said Ganguly.

The 15th edition of the Asia Cup will take place between August 27- September 11 in T20 format. 

The marquee multi-nation tournament was supposed to take place in Sri Lanka, but due to the island nation's political instability, SLC recently told the ACC that they are in no position to host the event.

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Following Sri Lanka's refusal, Bangladesh and UAE were the other possible options but with the former currently in the midst of the monsoon season, the ball eventually fell in the Emirates' nations' court.

Asia Cup was originally supposed to take place in 2020

The premier Asian tournament was slated to be hosted by Pakistan in September 2020. However, owing to Covid-19, it was eventually postponed till June 2021.

Subsequently, the PCB managed to strike a deal with their Lankan counterparts and exchanged the hosting rights for the next two editions.

With India qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final last summer, the tournament was once again postponed.

This will be the 2nd time the Gulf nation will host Asia Cup. The previous edition was also held in the UAE four years ago, where India beat Bangladesh in a low-scoring final to clinch their 7th title.

The Indian team is the most successful team in Asia Cup's history. The 'Men in Blue' have won a record seven titles- 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995, 2010, 2016 & 2018- followed by Sri Lanka (5 titles) and Pakistan (2 titles). 

The upcoming edition will be the 2nd time that the tournament will be played in the T20 format. The 1st instalment was won by India back in 2016.

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