The Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Syed Ashraful Huq told the media in India that only the four Test playing nations of Asia - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - would take part in the event. Ashraful, in the city to hold discussions with BCCI Secretary N. Srinivasan, said “The matches will be staged in Colombo and Premadasa Stadium is the likely venue. In all there will be six league games and the final.

“In the last edition of the Asia Cup, we had Hong Kong and UAE in the tournament but we had to shorten the format this time because of the lack of time available for the major teams.”

He admitted Malaysia was in contention to host the championship. “Yes, Malaysia was in the running. Eventually, the ACC has settled for Sri Lanka.”

This will be the fourth occasion Sri Lanka will be hosting the tournament begun in 1984. They played host in 1986, 1997 and 2004 and won the final on each occasion.

The 2010 version is the tenth edition of the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka are the present holders of the trophy having won it in 2008 when Pakistan hosted it. They beat India by 100 runs in the final played at Karachi. Sri Lanka has appeared in every final since the tournament's inception except the first when it was decided on a round-robin league.

Sri Lanka and India have won the Asia Cup the most occasions – four each and Pakistan once. Bangladesh, Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates have yet to lay their hands on the trophy.