Asia Cup Cricket Tournament put off

MUMBAI (India)—The six-team Asia Cup one-day series scheduled in Pakistan from Feb. 16-28 has been postponed due to a busy schedule, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Sunday.
The tournament was due to start immediately after India’s test and one-day series in Pakistan starting in the first week of January and conclude barely a week before their home series against England.
“Players felt they needed some rest because of the back-to-back itinerary,” BCCI Executive Secretary Ratnakar Shetty said.
The board decided to stage the third and final test against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad, dropping Kanpur due to poor facilities and infighting within the local association over the game.
Following the switch, Mohali was added to Nagpur and Mumbai as venues for the three tests against England on their February-April tour with the seven one-dayers allotted to Indore, Goa, Delhi, Guwahati, Kochi, Faridabad and Jaipur.
England’s tour will include two three-day warmup games in Mumbai and Baroda with the match dates to be decided soon.
Indian Board officials said the government would decide whether the team could play a Test in Karachi.
Teams have been reluctant to travel to Karachi over security concerns after several bomb blasts in the past few years. The city has staged only two Tests in the past five years.
Sunday’s meeting approved Karachi among the tour venues without saying whether Pakistan Cricket Board’s demand for a Test in the city would be accepted.
An annual match between winners of India’s Ranji Trophy tournament and Pakistan’s national Qaid-e-Azam tournament will also be introduced.—Agencies