BCCI President Sourav Ganguly announced on Friday that the upcoming edition of Asia Cup will be held in Dubai, later in September this year.
Previously, the tournament was scheduled to be played in Pakistan. Due to security concerns, the BCCI decided not to send their players to the neighbouring country.
However, Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have recently visited Pakistan for full-fledged tours off late.
The last edition of the Asia Cup was also played in the UAE, where India defeated Bangladesh in the finals. Dubai and Abu Dhabi hosted the matches in the tournament with all the big guns of cricket in the continent.
“Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and both India and Pakistan will play,” BCCI Chief Ganguly told reporters according to PTI. The former Indian captain will depart for Asian Cricket Council meeting, slated to be held on March 3.
The BCCI lynchpin also had few good words for the Indian team which is currently battling for the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
India became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament, after defeating New Zealand on Thursday. They still remain unbeaten in the tournament, topping the charts in Group A.
“They are playing some fantastic cricket and have qualified. Nobody is favourites in a world tournament. They are a good side, let’s see where they finish,” Ganguly said about the Indian women’s team who won their third consecutive match in the tournament.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team lock horns with New Zealand on Saturday for the second Test match at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
India trail by 1-nil in the two-match Test series, and have lost four matches on the trot during the New Zealand tour, including the whitewash in the ODI series.
“They have come back before. I’m sure they will bounce back again. There’s still one Test remaining,” concluded Ganguly.
