India and Pakistan’s cricket rivalry is set to resume during the Asia Cup in the UAE in September after the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) decided on hosting of the tournament at its annual general meeting in Dhaka on Thursday.

The BCCI was represented by its vice-president Rajeev Shukla and Ashish Shelar, a former treasurer. Both attended the meeting virtually.

“The decision regarding the Asia Cup will come soon. The venue and schedule will be announced too,” Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman who also heads the ACC, said after the meeting.

BCCI is the official hosts of the tournament, but the matches will be held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The ACC had earlier decided that the Asia Cup will be held at a neutral venue when it was either India or Pakistan’s turn to host the event.

Eight teams — UAE, Hong Kong and Oman, besides India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan — will participate in the 19-match tournament. It is expected to be held from September 10 to 28.

It is likely that India and Pakistan will be clubbed in the same group and there will be at least two games — group league and Super Six — involving the two sides. If both make the final, a third contest cannot be ruled out.

It is understood that the BCCI is sorting a few things out with the commercial partners and the broadcasters before making the final announcement in a few days. The Asia Cup is the main tournament, which generates revenue for the ACC.

As expected, the contentious vice-president’s election did not take place on Thursday. Mubashir Usmani of the UAE (Emirates Cricket Board) and Mahinda Vallipuram of Malaysia are in the fray.

There was uncertainty over the AGM after the BCCI wanted to shift its venue from Dhaka citing political tension in the region. The ACC initially refused but a last-minute patch-up paved the way for the BCCI agreeing to attend the meeting virtually.

The ACC chief didn’t wish to read much into the India and Sri Lanka board’s representatives’ absence in Dhaka.

“Several countries were not able to come to Dhaka, it happens every time. I was not able to go to Singapore (for the ICC annual conference). This is a normal thing — the majority of the members come, and some don’t come due to their schedule But we’ve got all 25 members who participated in the meeting,” Naqvi said in Dhaka.

Naqvi also didn’t say much about the India-Pak match in the continental event. “We will announce it shortly. We have had discussions with the BCCI and there are a few issues that we will resolve shortly. We are all on same page,” he said.

“We have all decided to work for cricket. None of us wants politics in our organisation and we had a very good meeting, hope we will continue working like this.”