Bangladesh to host 2014 Asia Cup in February-March, India confirm participation
Dhaka and Fatullah are expected to host the Asia Cup ties but a final decision will be taken in the near future.
The 2014 Asia Cup will be hosted by Bangladesh between February 24 and March 7. The Asia Cup is a bi-annual tournament contested between India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India's participation was in doubt as the Asia Cup was to begin immediately after the conclusion of the New Zealand tour. However India altered the itinerary of that tour and will now play five ODIs and 2 Tests against the Kiwis between January 19 and February 18.
The dates and venues for the Asia Cup were discussed at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Chennai on Saturday. The meeting was attended by BCCI president N Srinivasan, Sri Lankan Cricket secretary Nishanta Ranatuga, Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed and ACC chief executive Syed Ashraful Huq. Dhaka and Fatullah are expected to host the Asia Cup ties but a final decision will be taken in the near future. The tournament was earlier shifted to Bangladesh after original hosts India refused, citing a packed international calendar.
However the dates for the Asia Cup will need to be confirmed by Nimbus, which owns the broadcasting rights for the tournament. There were doubts about the future of the tournament after the broadcaster filed for bankruptcy but an official privy to the meeting was quoted by ESPNcricinfo saying that Nimbus would not pull out.
"India has confirmed those dates. Now we will wait for the broadcaster to confirm they are fine. There is no reason why they should not broadcast," said the official. "Those are the only dates when all the four participating countries are available to play."