Another cricket tournament gets postponed due to the pandemic. On Wednesday, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board announced that Asia Cup 2021 will not happen this year in June. The rising number of covid cases in Sri Lanka is the reason behind this.
Asia Cup 2021 On Hold
via:insidesport
The Chief Executive of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, Ashley said that country is facing a sudden hike in corona cases following which a travel ban of 10 days is there. The tournament is not possible in such situations.
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The government of Sri Lanka has also imposed a night curfew till 31st May to prevent the onset of the third wave of covid-19. As per the latest reports, the country has 1,31,098 cases of covid and more than 800 deaths across the island country.
Covid Pushed Tournament To 2022 and 2023
via:scroll.in
Amid this, Pakistan may get the hosting rights for Asia Cup again. Earlier, in 2020 the country was supposed to host the tournament but covid-19 situations pushed the date to next year. Sri Lanka was then chosen as the hosting country.
This is the second time when the tournament is postponed and since 2018 the tournament did not happen. India won the Asia Cup 2018 by beating Bangladesh in the finals.
The tournament that usually re-scheduled between a gap of two years is pushed to next year.
According to reports, the tournament is likely to happen in 2022 and 2023 with Pakistan and Sri Lanka as the hosting countries respectively.
Another reason for postponing is the WTC finals which will happen in the month of June. The dates are shifted to prevent the clashing of two tournaments.
Earlier this month, IPL 2021 was postponed midway when few cricketers came covid positive. The re-scheduling of the IPL is pending and UAE can be the new venue for the remaining matches. Moreover, the BCCI is searching for the venue for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021.