Dhaka: Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday said that the Asia Cup T20 tournament will be held in Dhaka from 24 February to 6 March, next year, before the ICC World T20. Besides Bangladesh, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were in the race to be the host nations for the tournament.

Bangladesh have already hosted the tournament on the last two occasions.

The Asia Cup is set to be a Twenty20 competition in 2016 for the first time.

It would then revert to a 50-over tournament in 2018 ahead of the 2019 World Cup in England and be played as a Twenty20 competition again in 2020.

The Asia Cup will return to an ODI format in 2018 with the biennial event set to mirror the format of the major ICC event that follows. It’s a change that will allow Asia Cup contestants to fine-tune for World Cups with in a major regional competition.

‘The year 2020 will again see the tournament in Twenty20 format and there will be another ODI (50-over) Asia Cup in 2022,’ said outgoing Asian Cricket Council chief executive Syed Ashraful Haq said in April this year.

Sri Lanka won the last Asia Cup, held in Bangladesh in 2014, and has won the competition five times since its inception in 1984. Pakistan have won twice — in 2012 and 2000 — while India are also five time winners.