Sri Lanka will be hosting the event next year. The development further clears the door for the BCCI to organise IPL 2020.

Pakistan originally had the hosting rights of the six-team continental event but considering the alarming COVID-19 situation, the PCB had decided to swap it with Sri Lanka. PCB chief Ehsan Mani said the decision was made due to the worsening pandemic.

"The Asian Cricket Council is looking at organising it next year. It is too dangerous to host it this year We had swapped the event with Sri Lanka this year because it is one of the least affected (in South Asia) from the virus," the veteran administrator told PTI.

Mani said there was no politics behind the postponement and the decision was taken purely on safety grounds. "We were originally going to host it but when I looked at the COVID situation in UAE and Pakistan and other South Asia countries, the only country which was ahead of the cycle was Sri Lanka and most likely to conduct the event.

"So Sri Lanka Cricket and PCB discussed it, we put the swap proposal to the ACC and it was approved by the board. There was no politics, it was just for sake of preserving cricket and nothing else," Mani added.

On July 8, Ganguly told 'sports tak' in an instagram live session, "Asia Cup cancel ho chuka hai, jo September me tha (Asia Cup, which was to be held in September, has been cancelled)."

With T20 World Cup in October-November also unlikely to go ahead in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia Cup's cancellation allows the BCCI to have a full-fledged IPL in the same window. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) met last month to decide on the road ahead for the continental event but no decision was taken.