The
Asia Cup, the continental cricketing championship, will be played in Sri Lanka
from August 27 to September 11 this year, the Asian Cricket
Council (ACC) announced on Saturday after its annual executive committee
meeting at its Colombo office. The tournament will be played in T20
format.  The Qualifiers for the tournament
will be played from August 20 2022 onwards.

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The
biennial tournament was cancelled in 2020 by the ACC in view of the COVID-19
pandemic and virus enforced restrictions. The Asian Cricket Council then looked
at June 2021 window for the tournament, scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka,
but the pandemic again played spoilsport to the event.

India,
the defending champions, remain the most successful team in the history of the
Asia Cup, which was first played in 1984, having won the championship for a
record seven times – that is 1984, 1988, 1990/91, 1995, 2010, 2016 and 2018.
India are followed by Sri Lanka with five titles. They won it in 1986, 1997,
2004, 2008 and 2014. Sri Lanka have also made the most appearances (14) in Asia Cup
history followed by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have played the tournament
13 times each. Pakistan have won the remaining two times – 2000 and 2012.

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Asia
Cup 2022 will feature six teams – India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Afghanistan and a Qualifier. The Qualifiers will be played between UAE and
Kuwait, who progressed from 2020 ACC Western Region T20, and Singapore and Hing
Kong, who progressed from the 2020 ACC Eastern Region T20.

Meanwhile,
BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s tenure as the Council’s President has been extended
unanimously by a year until the 2024 ACC Annual General Meeting.

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The
ACC, in the meantime, gave Qatar a Full Member status.

“ACC
would like to congratulate Qatar Cricket Association, who membership has been
upgraded from Associate to ACC Full Member status,” the ACC wrote on Twitter.