Asia Cup likely to start on Sept 10; UAE tipped as host amid uncertainty

Birmingham: The Asia Cup, which looked in great danger at one point a few months back due to heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, might take place, afterall. Even as nothing has been finalised and announced as yet, TOI has learnt that the tournament is likely to start from Sept 10.

While India are the hosts of the tournament, the venue is expected to be UAE. While a top BCCI official told this paper "that everything around the tournament was mere speculation and nothing had been finalized so far," it's possible that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) could release the schedule of the six-team tournament in the first week of July.On June 2, the ACC had announced that it was "rescheduling the ACC Women's Emerging Teams Asia Cup, previously set to commence on June 6, 2025, in Sri Lanka."

"The decision to postpone the tournament comes after consultations were held on a letter received from Shammi Silva, President Sri Lanka Cricket Board, who wrote to the President of the ACC, seeking postponement of the event citing adverse weather conditions in Sri Lanka and health concerns owing to the spread of chikungunya disease in the region," the ACC statement said.With the T20 World Cup in Feb-March next year in India and Sri Lanka, the tournament will be played in the T20 format - is likely to begin on September 10.

Along with India and Pakistan, the participating teams will include Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the UAE. In fact, Sony Liv, the official telecaster of the tournament, has begun promotional activities for the tournament, which had plunged into uncertainty following the the Pahalgam terror attack on June 22 followed by India launching Operation Sindoor in May.

With the ACC deciding that when it is India or Pakistan's turn to host the Asia Cup, the tournament would be held in a neutral venue and not on a hybrid model, UAE is the most likely venue for the tournament.

Interestingly, while there have been growing calls in India to boycott Pakistan in multilateral events, as per the International Cricket Council's (ICC) recently schedules, the women's teams of India and Pakistan are slated to clash with each other in the ODI World Cup (hosted by India & Sri Lanka) in Colombo on Oct 5, and then in the 2026 T20 World Cup on June 14 at Edgbaston in England.In May, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia had denied a news report that the BCCI has decided to pull out of all tournaments organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in order to isolate Pakistan, following the escalating tension between India and Pakistan.

Saikia had said, "Since this morning, it has come to our notice about some news items about BCCI's decision not to participate in Asia Cup and Women's Emerging Teams Asia Cup, both ACC's events. Such news is devoid of any truth as till now, the BCCI has not even discussed or taken any such steps regarding ensuing ACC events, leave alone writing anything to the ACC. At this stage, our prime focus is on the ongoing IPL and subsequent England series, both men and women.

The Asia Cup matter or any other ACC event issue has not come up for discussion at any level, hence any news or report on that is purely speculative and imaginary. It may be said that the BCCI, as and when any discussion on any ACC events takes place and any important decision is reached, the same will be announced through the media."