Asian Cricket Council invites bids to host T20 Championship

Karachi, July 25: Asian Cricket Council (ACC), which now functions under the umbrella of the ICC, has invited bids from some of its member countries to host the Asian T20 Championship early next year.

An official associated with the process told PTI that Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Nepal, Qatar were among those countries who had been asked to submit bids to host the Asian Championship.

"It has now been decided that the Asian Championship will be played in two formats, T20 and 50 overs," he said.

"The Asian Championship will be held every two years. The T20 format will take place the same year the ICC World T20 is held while the 50 overs format will be held with the World Cup," the official confirmed.

He said the Test playing members of the Asian body would not host next year's Asian T20 because of their busy schedules.

The Asian Cricket Council headquarters in Kuala Lumpur were disbanded few months back and the staff reduced with only a few staffers now working out of an office in Singapore under the umbrella of the ICC.

The official said that the decision to have the Asian Championships despite the ACC being disbanded was taken to raise more funds for the development of cricket in associate member nations.

"It was also decided to have a T20 event every two years to ensure more participation and competition from associate members and because of its increasing popularity," he added.

PTI