Ehsan Mani, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB], has reportedly conveyed to the PSL franchises that the game’s governing body is not keen on having the Asia Cup T20 tournament this year.
Asia Cup T20 was originally supposed to take place last year but it was eventually postponed till June 2021 due to the Wuhan virus pandemic.
According to a report published by PTI, a PCB source has said that Mani conveyed the decision to the franchise owners during a virtual meeting on Thursday, after it was announced the remaining games of the Pakistan Super League will take place in the month
The response from Ehsan Mani came after franchise owners had asked the PCB if the dates of PSL would clash with the continental tournament.
“Mani made it clear that their was little possibility of the tournament being held this year and it would be moved to 2023 due to the commitments of the participating teams,” the source said as quoted by PTI.
The tournament is now set to be postponed till 2023 due to the prior International commitments of the participating nations. The new dates of Asia Cup T20 will be announced during the next Asian Cricket Council meeting.
The Pakistan Super League was postponed last month after just 14 fixtures due to a proliferation of Covid positive cases.
The remaining matches will now take place in Karachi in the month of June. According to the source, franchise owners had insisted that the event be held in April but Ehsan Mani insisted that the PCB does not want to strain its relations with CSA, who had sent their full-strength team to Pakistan earlier this year.
Pakistan is scheduled to tour South Africa for three ODIs and four T20I in April.
“But the PCB chairman made it clear they could not do this as they had good relations with CSA which had supported Pakistan cricket by sending its full test team to Pakistan in February.” the source added.