The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Najam Sethi, on Monday threatened to pull out of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, which is set to be held in India in October and November, if the hosting rights of the Asia Cup were taken away from the Islamic country.
Although Pakistan is the official host of Asia Cup 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) top honcho Jay Shah, last year caused ripples in the cricketing world by stating that the Indian team will not tour the neighboring nation to take part in the prestigious continental competition.
He added that to ensure India's participation in the event, the tournament will instead be organized at a neutral venue.
Notably, Shah is the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the organizing body of the Asia Cup. Like UEFA selects a country to organize football's European Championships every four years, the ACC picks a host nation for the Asia Cup which holds it biennially.
Although Pakistan is the official host of Asia Cup 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) top honcho Jay Shah, last year caused ripples in the cricketing world by stating that the Indian team will not tour the neighboring nation to take part in the prestigious continental competition.
He added that to ensure India's participation in the event, the tournament will instead be organized at a neutral venue.
Notably, Shah is the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the organizing body of the Asia Cup. Like UEFA selects a country to organize football's European Championships every four years, the ACC picks a host nation for the Asia Cup which holds it biennially.
Moreover, what's ironic for Pakistan is that Shah himself had announced that it would host the tournament in 2023.
However, with India raising objections over the deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan, especially following the violent protests after Imran Khan's arrest, the PCB proposed a hybrid model for the competition.
However, with India raising objections over the deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan, especially following the violent protests after Imran Khan's arrest, the PCB proposed a hybrid model for the competition.
PCB's Hybrid Model to Keep Asia Cup in Pakistan
As per this model, except for India's matches, all other games of the tournament that would feature other teams would be played in Pakistan. However, the Indians would play all their contests in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a neutral venue.
While the Indian cricket board has yet to make its stance clear about the PCB's proposal, Sethi claimed that the BCCI was pushing for the competition to be shifted out of Pakistan.
"They want all the matches in a neutral venue. BCCI should take a good, rational decision so that we don't have any problems going forward," the PCB chief said in an interview. "India should not be looking at a situation where we end up boycotting the Asia Cup and also the World Cup, and then India ends up boycotting the Champions Trophy. That will be a huge mess."
Local media recently said that another factor working against Pakistan was the reported lack of support from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the two other cricket powerhouses in Asia, who don't have a favorable view of holding the tournament, either in Pakistan or the UAE.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have cited intense summer heat and logistical issues for not backing Pakistan's plan to move the competition to the UAE.
It has further intensified speculation that the ACC may shift the entire event elsewhere and would also take away Pakistan's hosting rights.
Sethi Issues Warning to BCCI
Sethi said that if the ACC did eventually act in this manner, it would be simply "unacceptable" to Pakistan. He reaffirmed that any move to take away the Asia Cup's hosting rights from Pakistan would force the Babar Azam-led side from boycotting the 2023 World Cup in India.
"That's a very real possibility, of course," he elaborated.
Sethi's threats didn't just stop there. He pointed out that even if India agreed to Pakistan's hybrid model for the Asia Cup, the PCB would seek a similar guarantee from the BCCI for the World Cup.
By this, he meant that if India played its Asia Cup matches at a neutral venue, Pakistan would also play its World Cup games outside India.