Pakistan willing to play only knock-out game in Ahmedabad

PCB chairman Najam Sethi has conveyed to his ICC counterpart Greg Barclay about his discomfort about playing at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad against India until and unless it is a knock-out game such as the Final. This comes after the rift between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) got more intense after the rejection of the hybrid model. Furthermore, the PCB suffered a major blow after Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and also Afghanistan rejected their proposed hybrid model for the conduction of the 2023 Asia Cup.

However, PCB have admitted that they do not have any problem in playing at Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru if the Pakistan national team gets clearance from Pakistan Government to travel to India for the ICC world cup. Notably, Barclay along with ICC General Manager Geoff Allardice recently travelled to Karachi for seeking assurances from the PCB chief that they won’t demand that their ODI World Cup matches should be played at a neutral venue. This is because the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is all set to reject their proposal to play the Asia Cup using the proposed Hybrid Model.

“Sethi has conveyed to Barclay and Allardice that Pakistan doesn’t want its matches to be scheduled in Ahmedabad unless it is a knock-out game like the final. He even requested ICC to schedule their games in Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata if the national team gets clearance from the Pakistan government to travel to India for the global event scheduled in October and November,” as reported by Onmanorama.

Najam Sethi asks ICC to convince BCCI for ‘Hybrid model’

According to a senior PCB source, Najam Sethi also asked the ICC officials to convince the BCCI to accept Pakistan’s hybrid model for Asia Cup. Besides, Sethi also shared his views regarding the latest revenue-sharing model. Sethi was seemingly unhappy with the new revenue structure in place and demanded to increase the Pakistan board’s share for the next five-year cycle.

In the same vein, the PCB chairperson backed his comment with the notion that Australia and England play bilateral series with India on a regular basis along with allowing their players to participate in the Indian Premier League, which ultimately results in earning extra revenue for both the concerned boards. Hence it was unfair on their part considering the overall scenario with Pakistan Cricket.

Meanwhile, the ICC and BCCI officials who are currently in London for the World Test Championship are expected to take a final call on the schedule as well as the venues for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, which is scheduled to take place later this year in India.