An informal comment that the Asia Cup T20 has been "called-off" in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic made by current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly didn't go down well with the board's Pakistani counterpart.
The media director of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Samiul Hasan Burney, said Ganguly's words hold no weight in this matter, as the final decision on the fate of the regional event lies with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) only.
Pakistan being the official host of the tournament, if it does see the light of the day, will provide major financial relief to the board in these difficult times where the pandemic has had a deeper economical impact.
"In December, we have the first full series (for Team India against Australia). Asia Cup 2020 has been called-off which was scheduled to take place in September," Ganguly told ‘Sports Tak’ in an Instagram live session.
Those comments were bemoaned by the PCB official, who reminded that such an announcement can only be made by the ACC President.
"The statements made by Sourav Ganguly have no impact on proceedings. Even if he passes comments every week, they do not hold weight or merit," Hasan was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
"The decision regarding the Asia Cup will be taken by the ACC. The announcement can only be made by the president of the Asian body Nazmul Hasan. To the best of our knowledge, the schedule of the next ACC meeting is yet to be announced."
This year's edition of the Asia Cup has had major hurdles already, with the BCCI confirming problems in sending the Indian team to Pakistan due to jeopardised political relationships between the two countries to the pandemic making the tournament itself greatly uncertain of happening on time.
BCCI had requested the PCB to change the venue or conduct India's matches outside Pakistan, potentially in UAE, which hosted the tournament's previous edition in 2018.
In February also, Ganguly had made a disagreeable comment to the PCB, saying the UAE will indeed host the competition, a claim that was rubbished by PCB chairman Ehsan Mani after much efforts made in tightening the security in Pakistan.
Amidst all the back and forth comments, there is no clarity yet on the tournament's fate, with Hasan's response to Ganguly's comment providing the latest spin. Like PCB, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) seems to also be still optimistic of the Asia Cup T20 going ahead.
"As far as I am concerned ACC management is working on Asia Cup 2020. They are also exploring other options if the tournament cannot be hosted on scheduled time," said BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury.
