Asia Cup 2023: A desperate Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has submitted three proposals to retain ODI Asia Cup hosting rights. However, it’s BCCI and its secretary Jay Shah who is playing hardball. Being the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), he has a lot of say in the matter and a decision on that is unlikely to be in Pakistan’s favour. And that is also bad news for PCB in terms of hosting ICC Champions Trophy in 2025. Follow Asia Cup LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
What are PCB’s proposals for Asia Cup 2023?
- Host the tournament entirely in Pakistan and India play in Pakistan.
- Host India’s matches in a neutral venue, preferably in UAE and play other games in Pakistan.
- The latest proposal is that all teams play one match each in Pakistan before completing the 2nd phase in UAE.
In the last ditch effort, PCB chief Najam Sethi has proposed that all teams visit Pakistan except India in the first phase. In the 2nd phase, the teams will move to UAE where they will complete their games against India. The final will also take place in Dubai, instead of Pakistan.
While BCCI had already rejected a hybrid model, PCB will make one last attempt as they will present the plan to ACC before making a final call. BCCI has been adamant on giving the hosting rights to Sri Lanka. The reason why UAE has been rejected is because of the heat during August.
What does BCCI say on Asia Cup 2023?
InsideSport reached out to BCCI official working closely on the matter. But as things stand, the Indian board is not ready to budge. With political pressure from the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government, India Cricket Team will not be visiting Pakistan anytime soon. UAE has been rejected not only for heat but also to support Sri Lanka’s bid as the island nation is still recovering from an economic crisis.
“PCB will go back and forth to try and retain the hosting rights. But the only possibility of a full-fledged tournament is if it happens in Sri Lanka. The logistics make complete sense and it will be good for everyone. There is no possibility that we will be traveling to Pakistan anytime soon. So, the Champions Trophy is also out of the question. We will request the ICC to shift the venue,” the BCCI official told InsideSport on Friday.
Pakistan has already threatened to boycott Asia Cup and World Cup if they lose the hosting rights. However, as per BCCI’s proposal, even though Sri Lanka will host the tournament, revenues, and expenses will be split 50-50 between Pakistan and the island country. But PCB doesn’t agree with that.
What happens to World Cup & Champions Trophy 2025?
The BCCI vs PCB fallout has also sent a warning sign to ICC. BCCI will request ICC to shift the venue at an appropriate time, possibly before the World Cup 2023. However, both ICC and ACC will be entangled in a legal battle as Pakistan would want compensation.
PCB has already warned that if India can’t visit Pakistan, they won’t be coming to India either. Instead, they will also request the ICC to shift the World Cup and future ICC events out of India.
“It can impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and future ICC Events in India in the 2024-2031 cycle,” Najam Sethi was quoted by GeoTV.
For the time being, even though, Pakistan is already preparing for a tri-nation series in the absence of Asia Cup, no final decision has been taken. For India, they would continue with Asia Cup even if Pakistan pull out.
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