The Asia Cup that was supposed to take place in September 2021 has been postponed to 2023. The tournament had to be rescheduled due to the rising cases of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka that were to host the 2021 edition of the Asia Cup. The previous edition of Asia Cup was held in UAE in 2018 which was won by India.
In a statement released by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), it announced the postponement of the tournament to 2023. "The Board has accordingly considered the matter very carefully and determined that the only way ahead would be to postpone the event," the statement read. The statement also said that there was no available window to host the tournament due to a packed international schedule.
"It would therefore only be feasible for this edition of the tournament to be held in 2023 as there is already an Asia Cup in 2022. Dates for the same will be confirmed in due course.
"The ACC Executive Board, in face of the risks and restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, had made the difficult decision to postpone the Asia Cup 2020 to 2021. Since then, the ACC has been working with its participants and stakeholders to try and ensure that the event is held in the year.
"However, on account of a packed FTP, it has been concluded that there is no practical window in the year when all the teams would be available to participate," the ACC said in its statement.
The Asia Cup started in 1985 and India has dominated the tournament since its inauguration. It was decided in 2016 that Asia Cup would be played on a rotation basis between ODI and T20.