Bangladesh to remain Asia Cup host

Bangladesh to remain Asia Cup host
The Asian Cricket Council has decided that Bangladesh
will remain the host of the Asia Cup 2013-14. The other
big news to emerge from the ACC's meeting in Colombo
is that Afghanistan will be the fifth team in the
competition. A total of 11 matches will be played in the
tournament with the opening game expected to be on
February 25 and the final on March 8, 2014.
"As of now, the decision has been made that Bangladesh
will retain hosting rights of the Asia Cup," BCB's acting
CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. "We had a good
meeting with ACC board members, and they have been
convinced that we can host the tournament. Afghanistan
has also been added to the tournament, making it a five-
team event and the number of matches has gone up to
eleven."
Bangladesh's status as a host nation was in doubt
following recent political turmoil. In December, the West
Indies Under-19s team had pulled out of their tour after
an explosion near the team hotel. Apart from the Asia
Cup, Bangladesh are scheduled to host Sri Lanka for a
bilateral series and will also stage the World Twenty20
from March 16.
Syed Ashraful Huq, the chief executive of the ACC, said
the members did not have any specific questions or
reservations about the security arrangements around the
tournament being held in the country: "Bangladesh
submitted a detailed security plan to the ACC. If any
member has any other concerns, they should address it
with Bangladesh."
ESPNcricinfo understands that concerns were unofficially
raised by the PCB about the security situation, with
regards to the Pakistan team being in Bangladesh in the
current political climate. Regardless of the
announcements from the meeting, it is expected that
further discussions on the matter will take place in
Dubai on January 9 during an ICC executive board
meeting, and a question mark remains over Pakistan's
participation in the Asia Cup. "They feel it is still a
delicate situation," an ACC member said. It is
understood that the PCB will seek advice from its
government before making its mind up.
The PCB's concerns have arisen in light of the
diplomatic row between the governments of
Pakistan and Bangladesh. The issue concerns the
trial of 1971 war criminals in Bangladesh, which is
taking place more than four decades after
Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan.
The ACC's decision will give the BCB enough
impetus to convince Sri Lanka Cricket of going
through with the bilateral series, which is
scheduled to begin on January 27. Jayantha
Dharmadasa, the SLC chairman, said a decision
on the tour would be made soon.
"Sri Lanka are also due to tour Bangladesh from
January 24, and SLC is presently conducting its
own security appraisal. A final decision on
whether that tour will go ahead as scheduled will
be made on January 9," Dharmadasa said.
The ICC, too, will hold security inspections in
Bangladesh, before deciding whether to retain
Bangladesh as the host for the World Twenty20.
The political situation in Bangladesh - general
elections are to be held this week - and the resulting
violence across the country had raised concerns over
whether the tournaments could be held in the country.
Although the issue was not discussed formally, it is
understood that with the Asia Cup going ahead without
any hiccups, the World Twenty20, scheduled to start
after the Asia Cup, will be held in Bangladesh across the
three venues finalised by the ICC.
Huq said the schedule would be finalised soon,
considering Afghanistan would need to be slotted in.
According to Huq, Afghanistan were included to provide
them with more exposure: "They are playing very well
and have got ODI status from the ICC, and the Asia Cup
will help them prepare for both the World Twenty20s and
the 2015 World Cup."
Apart from finalising Bangladesh as a host, the ACC also
awarded broadcast rights for this edition of the
tournament to Star India. It has cut ties with Nimbus,
the previous broadcast partners.
The meeting in Colombo was chaired by BCCI president
N Srinivasan, who is also chairman of the ACC. PCB CEO
Subhan Ahmed, Dharmadasa and SLC secretary
Nishantha Ranatunga, BCB president Nazmul Hassan
and acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury along with
presidents of the Singapore, Thailand and Bhutan cricket
associations attended the meeting.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh
correspondent. He tweets here ; Nagraj Gollapudi is an
assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

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