Pakistan Cricket Board Mulls Boycotting Asia Cup if Proposal Not Accepted
Key Highlights :
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is seriously considering boycotting the Asia Cup if their proposal to host the tournament is not accepted by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). This follows the ACC’s decision to potentially move the tournament from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. Pakistan Cricket Board’s Interim Committee chairman Najam Sethi met with ACC officials in Dubai on Tuesday, where he strongly objected to the move to relocate the Asia Cup.
The PCB had proposed a hybrid model for the tournament, with India playing their matches in the UAE and Pakistan hosting the remaining matches on home soil. However, Sri Lanka Cricket and the Bangladesh Cricket Board have rejected the hybrid model. According to a reliable PCB source, Sethi “stressed the ACC should accept Pakistan’s revised hybrid model proposal schedule for the Asia Cup and if at all the majority of members wish to have it elsewhere it must be held in the UAE like in 2018 and 2022.”
The PCB was surprised to learn that Sri Lanka had proposed to host the Asia Cup, with back-door support from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The PCB had previously rejected the Sri Lankan proposal at the last ACC board meeting in February and had agreed that Pakistan would remain the host.
In response to the BCCI’s refusal to send their team to Pakistan for the continental event, Sethi had instructed his officials to start working on having a tri-nation or four-nation event in Pakistan this year in the Asia Cup window if the continental event is not held in the country.
The ACC has maintained that the hybrid model is unacceptable and the budgetary sanctions can never be passed. Logistically, broadcasters would not want to send separate units in two countries. Sri Lanka, just like the UAE, does not require inter-city flights whether you play at the Khettarama [Premadasa Stadium], SSC or Galle or Kandy.
The ACC chairman Jay Shah will need to convene an executive body meeting to make the decision official. However, in the current situation, it remains to be seen whether Pakistan will participate in the event or decide against coming to India for the World Cup. Even the International Cricket Council (ICC) will not agree to Pakistan playing its matches outside India during the World Cup. It is now up to the PCB to decide what course of action they will take.
