The Asia Cup is set to return to India after a gap of more than 30 years with the BCCI set to host the tournament in the T20 format in 2025.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and India are all set to host the 2025 Asia Cup men’s edition which will be held in T20I format, according to an Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) release of an Invitation for Expressions of Interest (IEOI) document on Saturday. Team India are the defending champions of the Asia Cup, having defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the 2023 edition in Colombo.
This document invites interested parties to submit their IEOI for ACC Sponsorship Rights for the period from 2024 to 2027, according to a report in Times of India newspaper. The 2023 edition of the Asia Cup was jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka as India refused to tour Pakistan and was held in the ODI format.
India last hosted the Asia Cup more than three decades back when the 4th edition of the tournament was held in 1990-91. The host nation had defeated Sri Lanka in the final back then to retain their title.
India will host the T20I Asia Cup in 2025.
Bangladesh will host the ODI Asia Cup in 2027. pic.twitter.com/n3B0v5F23P
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 29, 2024
The TOI report also adds that the 2027 edition of the men’s Asia Cup will return to the ODI format and will be hosted by Bangladesh. “Both the tournaments will include six teams: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and a sixth team determined through qualifying event and comprise of 13 matches per edition,” the report said.
The next edition of Women’s Asia Cup (15 matches), which was won by Sri Lanka women team on Sunday after defeating India, will also be played in the T20 format and is scheduled for 2026. There will be four editions of the Under-19 men’s Asia Cup in this period, with each edition staging 15 matches.
“The details, including but not limited to the schedules, dates, years, formats and/or venues, regarding the ACC Tournaments given below are tentative and may be subject to change at anytime at the absolute discretion of ACC and without any liability to ACC,” the ACC document states.
The last time that the men’s Asia Cup was played in T20I format was in 2022 when Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the final to win the title in Dubai before the T20 World Cup 2022.
