Asian Games 2022 postponed due to Covid-19; Cricket's entry delayed

Cricket's return to the Asian Games after a hiatus of 8 years has been further derailed, with the competition postponed due to a surge of Covid-19 cases in China.

The 19th edition of the Asian Games was originally scheduled to take place between September 10-25 in Hangzhou, China.

The cricket matches were supposed to take place at the Zhejiang Technology Cricket Field, but question marks over the plausibility of staging such an event have hovered after a steep surge in Covid cases in Shanghai - which is 175 km away from Hangzhou.

"Following detailed discussions with the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC), the OCA Executive Board (EB) today decided to postpone the 19th Asian Games, which were scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China, from 10 to 25 September 2022," the OCA confirmed via an official statement.

The new dates for the tournament will be announced in due course.

"The new dates of the 19th Asian Games will be agreed between the OCA, the COC and the HAGOC and announced in the near future."

Cricket made its last appearance in the Asian Games back in 2014, where Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan in men's category, while Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in women's category to win the gold medal.

Cricket was cut off from the Asian Games in 2018 as the organizers tried to reduce the number of events.

India has never participated in the Asian Games, and earlier this year, it was confirmed that they will pull out from the 2022 edition as well, citing international commitments.

China has been plagued with a fresh wave of coronavirus for the past few months, and the country has been under severe lockdown.

Several sporting events, except the Winter Olympics, have been postponed or cancelled in recent months. The Asian Games are the latest addition to the list.