The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday (December 13) secured the hosting rights of next Asia Cup, scheduled to be played in September 2020. The PCB earned the rights for the first time in over a decade, but it is still uncertain whether the tournament will be played in Pakistan or the UAE.

According to the reports, if the situation in Pakistan or Pakistan's relationship with India does not improve between now and then, there is a high possibility that the competition will be staged in UAE. It is worth mentioning here that the UAE hosted the 14th edition of Asia Cup on the behalf of BCCI in September this year.

Since Pakistan team travelling and playing in India would've created a political tussle, the BCCI had decided to host the tournament on neutral territory. India and Pakistan have not faced each other in a full bilateral series since 2007 and considering the current hostility in diplomatic ties, the bilateral series seems a distant dream right now.

Since the Lahore terror attacks on the Sri Lankan team in 2009, Pakistan hasn’t hosted international cricket on regular basis. However, in the last couple of years, things have improved a bit with teams like Sri Lanka, West Indies and a star-studded World XI side touring the country. Moreover, Pakistan had also staged several high-profile PSL games in Lahore and Karachi over the last two seasons.

(With inputs from ESPNcricinfo)