India to host Asia Cup in UAE

Dubai, April 11: India will host the upcoming Asia Cup 2018 in the United Arab Emirates amid political tensions between New Delhi and Pakistan. Notably, the tournament will be played between September 13 and 28, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday confirmed that India will host Asia Cup 2018 in the United Arab Emirates. It said, "The ACC Board unanimously approved the staging of Asia Cup 2018 in the U.A.E between September 13th-28th, 2018." "India will be hosting the upcoming marquee event of Asia in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” the board added.

The BCCI statement also confirmed that tournament would revert to the one-day format. However, the previous edition in 2016 was a T20I tournament, largely to facilitate teams’ preparations for the ICC World T20 2016 that followed.

The Asia Cup will feature 50-overs games between full members India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and a sixth team. The sixth team will be determined via a play-off that includes UAE, Hong Kong, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia and Oman. Abu Dhabi and Dubai will be the venues for the tournament, where India is to serve as the official host. The Emirates Cricket Board is renting out the stadiums.

Meanwhile, the 2018 Emerging Teams' Asia Cup will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Originally slated for April, the tournament has been moved to December. Pakistan will also play host to the next ACC Annual General Meeting, which will be held later this year. India are the defending champions, having beaten Bangladesh in the final two years ago.