The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Najam Sethi made it clear that Pakistan will not visit India for the ICC ODI World Cup in 2023, if BCCI doesn’t send his team to Pakistan for Asia Cup that is scheduled to start from 2 September 2023.
According to PCB Chairman , they won’t take part in the tournament unless their games are played in Pakistan or a neutral location as they have presented module to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
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PCB Chairman Najam Sethi stated in an interview with SportsTak that only neutral venues should host games involving the Pakistan team.
“Pakistan will not travel to India for the World Cup, we want our World Cup matches to be played at a neutral venue only,” PCB chairman told Sports Tak.
The PCB chairman further disclosed that during their meeting in Bahrain earlier this year, the members of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), which included both India and Pakistan, had discussed the idea of a hybrid model.
“There are no security issues. We can play a couple of matches against India and the rest of the teams’ matches can also be played in a neutral venue. We are ready for compromise. All or nothing is nothing is not what we want,” he said.
Najam Sethi also criticized the boards of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for changing their minds over having the Asia Cup in Pakistan. The PCB Chairman disclosed that Jay Shah had inquired during an ACC meeting in Bahrain as to whether anyone had a problem touring Pakistan, and that no one at that time had objected.
“BCCI secretary Jay Shah had asked in ACC meeting in Bahrain whether someone has a problem with touring Pakistan and no one said anything.”
“If BCCI takes a political stance and doesn’t let anyone play in Pakistan, I don’t think ACC can run this way,” he concluded.
Remember that The Asia Cup is scheduled to be played in Pakistan, while Indian cricket management announced not to visit Pakistan to play the upcoming Asia Cup, and demanded to shift the event to a neutral venue.
On India’s response, Pakistan show serious concern and also decided that if India not going to travel to Pakistan for the Asia cup then Pakistan will not going to travel India for the world cup.
On this matter, the Asian Cricket Council Board met in Dubai to discuss formalities regarding the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September. However, no final decision has been reached regarding the Asia Cup yet. Meanwhile, Pakistan has decided that in the event of the Asia Cup being canceled, they will play series with different countries.
