LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani has rejected claims that the Asia Cup will be held in Dubai, clarifying that a final decision on the venue for the tournament is yet to be taken. Mani said Saturday that the decision regarding the venue for the Asia Cup would be taken in the Asian countries’ interest. The PCB chairman added that the Asia Cup is held to financially benefit the Associate members of the International Cricket Council. Mani was responding to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly’s comments that the Asia Cup would be held in Dubai, allowing both India and Pakistan to participate in the tournament.
The Asia Cup is scheduled to be held in Pakistan this year and a final decision is expected to be taken by the Asian Cricket Council meeting that will be held in Dubai on March 3. India has maintained that that it will not be able to play in Pakistan owing to security concerns. Earlier, India had said that it did not have any problem with Pakistan hosting the event so long as it was held at a neutral venue. The two countries have not played a bilateral series with each other since 2012-2013 ever since Pakistan went to India for one. Since early 2013, the two sides have only played each other in major ICC competitions. Pakistan beat India comprehensively in the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2017 whereas India beat Pakistan in June 2019 last year during the ICC Cricket World Cup.