ACC meeting to decide on Pakistan’s Asia Cup hosting rights

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has flown to Bahrain to attend a meeting of the Asian Cricket Council to decide the debacle surrounding Pakistan’s Asia Cup hosting rights. The meeting was called at the behest of PCB chairman Najam Sethi after a war of words with the BCCI was initiated last year.

India have endured a troubled relationship with their neighbors and arch-rival Pakistan over the last two decades, and the relationship between the two boards went into a tailspin after the BCCI secretary Jay Shah had officially stated that the Indian team won’t be traveling to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023. His remarks cast a dark shadow over the continental tournament with a shift of venue as the most likely outcome.

Najam Sethi criticized Shah’s decision, calling it ‘unilateral’, and sought clarification from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). If reports are to be believed, the BCCI are not going to change their stance and the Asia Cup will be likely shifted to a neutral venue.

“Jay is in Bahrain for the ACC meeting. The BCCI’s stand will not change. We will not be travelling to Pakistan as we haven’t got any go-ahead from the government,” a BCCI source stated.

It is worth noting that the former PCB chief Ramiz Raja had threatened to pull out from the 50-over World Cup hosted by India later this year. It initiated a war of words between the officials of the two boards, and things have only escalated in the last couple of months after the arrival of Najam Sethi.

There are rumors that the tournament might be moved to the UAE or Sri Lanka with the latter being the original hosts of last year’s tournament in UAE. The latest bomb blasts in Peshawar have also raised security concerns in the country, despite Pakistan hosting successful tours of England and New Zealand very recently.