By Vipul Kashyap

New Delhi [India], July 24 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday agreed to host the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 at a neutral venue.

The venues of the tournament can be Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as per the sources.

The Asia Cup 2025, a six-team tournament, will be played in T20 format this time around. The sources further revealed that it is likely that both India and Pakistan will be in the same group for the tournament.

'India is ready to host the Asia Cup 2025, but at a neutral venue (Abu Dhabi and UAE), India and Pakistan will likely be in the same group,' sources told ANI.

India is the defending champion of the Asia Cup. In 2023, India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, and Sri Lanka was picked as the neutral venue for India's fixtures. Earlier this year, Pakistan hosted the Champions Trophy, but India declined to cross the border and played all its matches at a neutral venue in Dubai.

In May, various reports and speculations stormed social media, suggesting that India had declined to participate in this year's Asia Cup and the Women's Emerging Teams Asia Cup due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan.

The reports claimed that the BCCI had informed the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) of its decision to withdraw from both events--the Women's Emerging Teams Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka next month, and the Men's Asia Cup, slated for September.

BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia categorically denied the claims, stating that the BCCI hasn't engaged in such conversations or taken any steps regarding the ACC events. The BCCI secretary labelled the reports as 'speculative and imaginary.' (ANI)