Sri Lanka Cricket confirms inability to host Asia Cup 2022

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed on Wednesday that the board is not in a position to host the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 because of the political unrest in the country. 

Sri Lankan board told Asian Cricket Council (ACC) about their inability to host the Asia Cup in the island nation, which has been going through an economic crisis. 


The situation got even more worse with president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the county on a military jet.


Earlier this month, the board also decided to postpone the third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) indefinitely, which was scheduled to kick off from August 1st. 

An ACC official stated to TOI that the Sri Lanka Board officials informed ACC about the current situation in Sri Lanka, which is not ideal to host such a mega event with six nations taking part in it. 


“Sri Lankan cricket has conveyed that due to the existing political and economic situation in their country specially where foreign exchange is concerned it is not an ideal situation for them to host such a mega-event of six teams in the island,” an ACC source said.

Also Read: Pubudu Dassanayake appointed Canada’s head coach hours after resigning as Nepal coach

Mohan de Silva on the replacement venue


The ACC official also claimed that the SLC wants to host the tournament in the UAE or some other country now. 


The SLC board secretary Mohan de Silva confirmed on Sunday (July 17th) that UAE is currently ahead of everyone to host the Asia Cup 2022.


However, the Asian Cricket Council is yet to make any official announcement about UAE hosting the continental event.


“UAE is not the final replacement venue, it could be some other country, even India as the ACC, Sri Lanka cricket will first have to talk with Emirates Cricket Board officials to get final approval for the event,” the official said.

The Asia Cup 2022 schedule is expected to be announced on Friday (July 22nd). India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh will be the five full member teams with Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait and UAE to play qualifiers for the qualification sixth spot.


Discover more
Top Stories
news

Trent Boult dethrones Jasprit Bumrah as ICC Top-ranked bowler in ODIs

Trent Boult has dethroned Jasprit Bumrah as a top-ranked bowler in ODI cricket. The Kiwi left-armer was at the helm of the ICC Rankings prior to last week. However, Bumrah’s career-best figures in the first ODI against England helped him leap over Boult. After taking six wickets in the first ODI, Bumrah managed to take two wickets in the second ODI. He was unfortunate to miss out on the final ODI due to a niggle, which was the reason for his fall in rankings. Trent Boult claims the ascendency once again Boult tops the charts with a rating of 704, followed by Bumrah who has a rating of 703. The duo have tussled for the top spot for quite a while, with Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi placed in third spot. Among other movers in the top 10, Mohammad Nabi moved one spot up to the eighth spot. English all-rounder Chris Woakes is still recovering from an injury, which meant he missed the ODI series against England. He dropped one spot to ninth. Rassie van der Dussen receives huge boost in ODI Batting Rankings Rassie van der Dussen has climbed three places to the third spot in the ICC ODI Batting Rankings. The South African smashed a brilliant knock of 134 in the first ODI against England, which has helped him to make the cut for top three batters. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli who struggled to score runs against England moves a spot down to fourth. Babar Azam remains comfortably placed at the top, with a rating of 892, miles ahead of his teammate Imam-ul-Haq who is placed in the second spot. Also Read: Pubudu Dassanayake appointed Canada’s head coach hours after resigning as Nepal coach