What does BCCI’s announcement of not travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup mean for the latter’s World Cup 2023 participation in India?
At a time when the Pakistan government has formed a high-profile committee led by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to take a call on the team’s travel to India later this year for the ICC World Cup 2023, India’s confirmation about not travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup is likely to add a fresh twist to the tussle. BCCI secretary Jay Shah and PCB representative head Zaka Ashraf met in Durban ahead of the ICC Board meeting scheduled on Thursday to confirm the hybrid model of the Asia Cup, the fixtures for which were announced last month.
India captain Rohit Sharma and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam
PCB’s then-representative head Najam Sethi had proposed the hybrid model after India had announced their reservations about travelling to Pakistan. The schedule got an approval from the other Asian Cricket Council (ACC) members and it was decided that India will play their matches in Sri Lanka while the other matches will take place in Pakistan.
After Zaka Ashraf took over from Sethi earlier this month, he objected to the hybrid schedule of Asia Cup, giving rise to fresh doubts over the tournament’s venue. However, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, on Wednesday, confirmed that BCCI and PCB are going ahead with the proposed hybrid model for the Asia Cup.
