Asia Cup 2022, which was supposed to take place in Sri Lanka, has been moved to the United Arab Emirates. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was initially hosting the international tournament. As decided earlier, the tournament will occur between August 27 and September 11, 2022. The 2022 Asia Cup would be the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament.

According to the latest cricketing news, this tournament was initially scheduled to take place in July 2020 but was postponed to September 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID- 19 Pandemic. After that, the tournament was rescheduled to 2021 and was supposed to be held in Sri Lanka before getting rescheduled again. As per the records, Pakistan was supposed to host the tournament in 2022. The cricket news for India revealed in October 2021 that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) declared Sri Lanka to host the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup and Pakistan to host the 2023 edition. But due to the political turmoil in Sri Lanka, the ACC announced that the tournament would be held in the UAE.

Reason For Shifting the Asia Cup

According to reports, the tournament was shifted out of Sri Lanka due to the constant political turmoil occurring in the country. A release from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said that the ACC, after a huge deliberation took a decision unitedly to conclude that it would be fair to relocate Asia Cup 2022 from Sri Lanka to the UAE. Sri Lanka would continue to possess hosting rights.

Sri Lanka is presently contesting against Pakistan for a Test series. Still, things have turned with the previous President of the country fleeing and a new President installed to fill the vacancy. This was not taken on acceptably by people, and the country is perpetually witnessing protests against the political scenario.

The SLC President, Shammi Silva, said they were eager to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. Still, he understands the decision of the ACC to shift the location while considering the current scenario and magnanimous event. He also stated that Sri Lanka would work with the ACC and the UAE Cricket Board to ensure the Asia Cup is successful.

The Asian Cricket Council remains mindful of the Sri Lankan fans, and thus the decision to change the venue has been difficult. But it was essential to shift the location and the thoughts of the ACC members to remain in solidarity with the passionate cricket lovers of Sri Lanka.

The upcoming Asia Cup news mentioned that the ACC had limited options for choosing backup venues as the Indian subcontinent has major monsoon downpours from June to September. The United Arab Emirates proves to be an ideal option when it comes to infrastructure and travel. However, in late August and early September, the rising temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius and humidity pose a concern.

Asia Cup 2022: History

Asia Cup is a men’s one-day international and T20 International cricket tournament. The main objective behind establishing the Asian Cricket Council was to promote goodwill among Asian countries. It was established in 1983, and the first Asia cup was held at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates in 1984. In 1986, the tournament was boycotted by India due to strained relations with Sri Lanka related to cricket.

From 1990-91, Pakistan boycotted the tournament because of political tension with India, and in 1993, Asia Cup was canceled because of that only. The International Cricket Council declared that the Asia Cup would be played on a rotational basis between the Twenty20 International format and One Day International format after noticing the downsizing in the tournament. India emerged as the most successful team in the tournament with six ODI and one T20. Sri Lanka comes second on the list of the most successful teams in the Asia Cup and has played the most tournaments, followed by India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Mode of Play

According to cricket news for today, the six-team Asia Cup will be played in the T20 format this year as a forerunner to the T20 World Cup in Australia. The UAE also hosted the preceding edition of the Cup in 2018 in the ODI format, which India won.

This edition of the Asia Cup is essential as it would serve as a means of preparation for Asian nations for the World Cup to be held in October. It would begin with a qualifying round of matches between Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, and the UAE. The winner would be selected for the main tournament and play Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.