Islamabad: Pakistan is scheduled to host the Asia Cup later this year in September. However, India has refused to send its team to Pakistan for the event due to political tensions between the two countries.

In order to break the deadlock, Pakistan had presented a hybrid model for Asia Cup in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting, under which other teams would play their matches in Pakistan, while the Indian team would play their matches in another country.

Last month, when Chairman PCB Management Committee, Najam Sethi, presented the hybrid model, ACC President, Jay Shah, also expressed his interest in the model, but upon returning to India, he opposed it. Two weeks ago, Shah said that the council is waiting for input from other participating countries in order to finalize the venue for Asia Cup.

“We are awaiting feedback from other nations to finalise the venue for the 2023 Asia Cup and clarity on the India-Pakistan match," Shah said during a media interaction. According to sources, if PCB remains firm on its position regarding the hybrid model, then Asia Cup might not be able to take place this year, and PCB is prepared for it. The possibility of holding the entire event in another country has been rejected by PCB. Sources have revealed that the cricket boards of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh recently made an unofficial attempt to convince Pakistan to hold the Asia Cup at a neutral venue, but it was unsuccessful.

Sri Lanka wants to host the event in their own country and UAE is also ready to stage the Asia Cup again, but PCB maintains that if the issue is not resolved now, the problem will continue in the future and difficulties can also arise in hosting the Champions Trophy in 2025.

On the other hand, BCCI is also prepared for the cancellation of the Asia Cup. They have already started planning for a five-nation tournament, which would be held during the window vacated by the cancellation of Asia Cup.

Sethi was supposed to go to UAE for some important meetings next week, but he cancelled the trip due to personal reasons. According to sources, a big decision regarding the Asia Cup can be expected in a few days.

PCB is also concerned about public reaction over the complete transfer of the event to the UAE. The suggestion of hosting the event in another country has already been rejected. If the Asia Cup does not take place this year, it may also affect Pakistan's preparations for the 2023 World Cup in India.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 02 2023

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