ICC awards ODI status to all matches of Asia Cup

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday confirmed that it has awarded ODI status to all matches of the upcoming Asia Cup 2018, which will take place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from September 15-28.

“To grant ODI status to all matches in the Asia Cup is a positive step taken by the ICC Board as we continue to take an in-depth look at international cricket structures in relation to our long-term ambition of growing the game,” ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said.

“This decision was informed by our review of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers earlier this year where there was a mix of games with and without international status which proved to be confusing for fans.”

Hong Kong are the only team in the tournament without ODI status and they will play first round matches against Pakistan and India on September 16 and 18.

“In order to simplify the situation we will extend the ICC World Cup principle of all matches being ODIs to other tournaments where a number of the teams have ODI status and some not, this includes the Asia Cup and ICC World Cup Qualifiers,” he said.

“The fact that these events are open to teams beyond the existing 16 teams that currently have ODI status is important.”

Apart from Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will take part in the two-week event.

These five sides will feature in the 10-team ICC World Cup 2019, which will take place in England and Wales next year from May 30 to July 14.