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Asia Cup 2023: BCCI is unlikely to support the hybrid model

According to PTI, the BCCI would not back PCB president Najam Sethi’s suggested hybrid format for hosting the Asia Cup. According to reports, ACC chairman Jay Shah, who is also the BCCI secretary, has stated India’s position on the issue. To hold a tournament at a neutral location, the ACC executive body must make the final decision, which is where the issue arises.

According to the article, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), repeated the Indian board’s position in an unofficial meeting with some of the continental body’s members in Ahmedabad. The “hybrid model” would entail that all Asia Cup group stage matches, excluding those featuring India, would be played in Pakistan before the event moved to a neutral location.

However, Shah and the BCCI are opposed to the PCB’s idea and would rather that the tournament be held fully in a neutral location, preferably Sri Lanka. However, only the ACC’s all-powerful executive body may make a final judgement.

“Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have already told the PCB that they have no issues playing their games in Pakistan. But India is not keen on supporting the hybrid model. Now, the impasse hasn’t been broken and the final decision will only be taken at ACC executive board meeting that Jay Shah will have to summon,” an ACC board member explained.

The ACC executive body is made up of 25 members, including five Test-playing nations (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan), three with One-day International and T20I status, and 17 with solely T20 status.

“There has to be a middle of the road solution as you can’t put this hybrid model to vote,” the member added. “I mean if there are six nations playing the event, what is the locus standi of the 19 other nations who won’t play the tournament? On what basis will they vote when they have no stake?”

Despite pressure from the BCCI, the PCB is unlikely to give up the opportunity to host at least a portion of the Asia Cup in Pakistan, considering that the tournament was allocated to Pakistan by the ACC’s executive body. However, the temporary head Sethi has endeavoured to assist all parties concerned in achieving a compromise on the matter by employing a “hybrid model.”

Even if the model is approved, the PCB is expected to demand that the upcoming ICC World Cup, which will be held in India in October-November, be played at a neutral venue, a tit-for-tat approach in response to the BCCI and the Indian government’s steadfast opposition to sending its team to Pakistan.

Sethi has also said that the PCB might not go to the World Cup if the “hybrid model” for the Asia Cup isn’t accepted. This would worry the International Cricket Council (ICC), which hasn’t announced the schedule for the 50-over tournament even though it’s less than six months away.

Greg Barclay, the president of the ICC, and Geoff Allardice, the head of the organisation, are going to Pakistan on Tuesday. It looks like they are trying to get Pakistan to change its mind.

Farzeen K

Farzeen K

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