LAHORE, March 20: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Thursday finally announced that Pakistan will stage the Asia Cup limited-overs tournament but added that Sri Lanka has been kept as the alternate venue in case the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) finds itself unable to hold the continental event for any reason.

Arjuna Ranatunga, the ACC President, and the PCB Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf decided at a meeting here that Pakistan will host the Asia Cup from June 24 to July 6 with all the matches to be played in Lahore and Karachi.

“All the participating countries have given us the green signal and they are ready to play in Pakistan, setting aside any security concern.

“Therefore, the ACC is delighted to announce that Pakistan will hold the Asia Cup,” ACC Chief Executive Ashraful Huq —flanked by PCB chairman, ACC president Ranatunga and PCB Chief Operational Officer Shafqat Naghmi — told reporters at a press conference after signing the hosting rights documents with the PCB.

“We have decided Sri Lanka as the alternate venue but the event will only be shifted if Pakistan is not willing to host it,” Ranatunga stated.

“We had some difficulties in deciding the Asia Cup dates but now we are delighted as all are agreed on the dates.”

Meanwhile, Dr Nasim said all the Asia Cup participating squads would be provided with state-level security, given to any head of state. Therefore, he insisted, there should be no safety or security concerns.

While defending the decision of staging the matches in only two cities (Karachi and Lahore), Dr Nasim and Ranatunga said it was only to avoid logistic problems and giving rest to the players.

“Involving more cities causes more travelling for the players and we have to complete the tournament within a certain number of days,” the PCB chairman said.

Ranatunga reiterated Dr Nasim’s views. “Though it is better for the PCB chairman to comment on it, still I want to add that there is much cricket ahead and the players need maximum rest. Therefore, the decision has been taken for the betterment of the cricketers as well,” Ranatunga said.

The former Sri Lankan captain asserted that he, as a former Test cricketer and now as administrator, considered Asia Cup as the most important Asian event.

“I played in the first edition in Sharjah and later in Colombo and now it is the first time that Pakistan will host it.

“We are really delighted over hosting the event in Pakistan. We consider both Pakistan and India as our ‘elder brothers’ because both have come out to help us in the past whenever we were in trouble,” Ranatunga expressed.

On the ACC reaction over Australia’s recent refusal to send their team to Pakistan on security grounds, Ranatunga said: “Our message is clear for all. The ACC is delighted over hosting the Asia Cup in Pakistan and we have no concerns with their issues.”

Meanwhile, Ashraful announced that all the six participating teams had been divided into two pools. Pakistan, India and Hong Kong are in group ‘A’ while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UAE from the pool “B”.

Two top teams of each group would qualify for the next round to be played on round-robin basis, he said, adding that July 7 would be the reserve day for the final.

In the first round, Karachi and Lahore will hold three matches each, the second-round matches will be held in Karachi. All the matches will be day-night affairs. The International Cricket Council (ICC) will appoint umpires for the tournament while the TV umpires will be named by the ACC, Ashraful said.

The tournament, which is being held after a delay of two years, carries a cash prize of $200,000.

Ashraful said the ACC would also celebrate its silver jubilee on July 5, adding the PCB chairman would take the charge as the next ACC president during the silver jubilee celebrations.

A cricket seminar, to be attended by former and current Test cricketers of Asia, would also be organised on July 6, before the final the same afternoon, he said.