Asia Cup 2021 set to be postponed again due to crunch international calendar

Asia Cup is a biannual event held comprising of six-eight of the best teams in Asia. It was set to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. However, the crunch international calendar is set to delay it again this year.

This year's highly anticipated Asia Cup is once again set to be postponed. The biannual event comprises the best Asian teams who battle it out for the continental pride.

The event was scheduled to be held last year in the Twenty20 format, with India being the defending champion from 2018. However, the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic challenges forced the event to be postponed.

As for this year, the tournament was set to be held in Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka Cricket is cynical about the competition being planned this year with the crunch international schedule ahead.

Also, the suspension of the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League is unlikely to leave a window open for the players to participate, with the tournaments likely to resume sometime later this year. Furthermore, with Lanka planning on hosting the Lanka Premier League, followed by the Bangladesh Premier League in Bangladesh, there is hardly room for the Asia Cup.

Meanwhile, if the tournament is set to be postponed, it could likely be held for three consecutive years, starting next year. While Pakistan would host 2022, 2023 could be taken up by Sri Lanka, as the host of 2024 is yet to be decided.

As for the format, it is unsure what would it be. If it is held before the ICC World T20 next year, T20 would be ideally suited. However, if it is held after WT20, the One-Day International format would be used to prepare for the ICC World Cup 2023.

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