Sri Lanka likely Asia Cup venue after India-Pakistan row: Official

Asia Cup matches involving India could be played in Sri Lanka after the cricketing powerhouse refused to visit arch-rival and official host Pakistan, a board official said on Sunday.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is due to make a formal announcement in the coming week after calls for a different venue for India's games in the 50-over tournament in September, a Sri Lankan official said.

The ACC is likely to approve Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) proposed hybrid model for the Asia Cup 2023, which includes Sri Lanka as the neutral venue where India can play their games.

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, the PCB's model sees four — and possibly five — of the tournament's 13 games being played in Pakistan. All the India-Pakistan games will be played in Sri Lanka, as will the final if India is involved.

The window reserved for the tournament currently is between Sept.1-17. For the Pakistan leg, the games are likely to be played in Lahore.

The Asia Cup 2023 was scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September. However, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the president of the ACC, last year had made it clear that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan for the continental championship and demanded that the event be moved to a neutral venue.

Neighbours India and Pakistan have not met on either side's soil in any version of the game since 2012, and only play each other in international tournaments on neutral grounds.

"It is very likely that some of the matches will be in Sri Lanka," the board official said, asking not to be named. "But we have still not officially received confirmation."

Sri Lanka's board had expressed willingness to host some Asia Cup matches, despite an economic crisis which forced it to default on its $46 billion foreign debt in April last year and seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

The official said it had the capacity to conduct an international tournament, even though the island was still emerging from the economic downturn.

The unprecedented economic crisis led to months of protests and the ouster of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was accused of corruption and mismanagement. He fled the country and resigned in July 2022.

"Even at the height of the crisis when we didn't have fuel and electricity, we hosted the Australian team," the official said, referring to Australia's tour taking in three T20 matches, five ODIs and three Tests.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had threatened to boycott the World Cup in India, which is due to start in October, if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to play the Asia Cup in Pakistan a month earlier.

The BCCI has since been looking to work out a plan to play the six-nation tournament at a neutral venue in September. The other nations in the Asia Cup are Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.