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UAE frontrunner to host Asia Cup, venue to be finalised in March

It is understood that the UAE with three venues — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah — are favourites to host the tournament but the decision has been withheld for the time being

The Asian Cricket Council will decide on an alternate venue for the Asia Cup ODI tournament in March after BCCI secretary Jay Shah and PCB chairman Najam Sethi had their first formal meeting in Bahrain on Saturday.

The Asia Cup was initially allotted to Pakistan and was scheduled in September this year, but Shah, who is also the ACC chairman, announced last October that India will not travel to Pakistan.

It is understood that the UAE with three venues — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah — are favourites to host the tournament but the decision has been withheld for the time being.

All heads of ACC member nations attended the emergent meeting, which was called at the behest of PCB chairman Sethi after ACC under the chairmanship of Shah released the continental body’s itinerary, where Pakistan wasn’t named the host.

“The ACC affiliates met today, and there were a lot of constructive discussions. But the shift of venue has been postponed till March. But be rest assured that with India not going to Pakistan, the tournament will have to be shifted. A tournament without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gills will have the sponsors back out,” a senior BCCI official privy to the development told PTI.

One ACC insider said Sethi has just taken over PCB, and if he would have ceded ground on the hosting rights in the first meeting itself, then it would have led to a bad impression at home.