Pakistan Board denies clearance talks at the Asia Cup Meeting

After his recent statements on shifting the Asia Cup 2023 out of Pakistan were made public, Pakistan Cricket Board president Najam Sethi is thought to have communicated with BCCI secretary Jay Shah. Sethi, who succeeded Ramiz Raja as Pakistan cricket’s new leader, has simply reiterated Raja’s sentiments; and, according to a source close to the information, Sethi has warned the BCCI that Pakistan will drop out of the 2023 World Cup if the Asia Cup is held at a neutral location. The ACC’s next meeting in March will decide on the new location for this year’s Asia Cup.

PCB statement ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/5BLTCB21uP

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 5, 2023

Pakistan was initially scheduled to host the Asia Cup in September, but Shah, the head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), stated in October last year that the Indian squad will not travel Pakistan for the continental competition owing to political concerns.

According to one source, all competing nations (in the Asia Cup) have been requested to seek official permission to come to Pakistan for the competition. However, the PCB has come out blazing on all guns, implying that no such discussion took place during the meeting.

Pleased to announce PCB will play 3xT20s against Afghanistan in Sharjah end March to compensate Afghanistan following Australia’s pullout from bi lateral series against it. I also supported ACC decision to grant Afghanistan equal share of ACC revenues like BCCI, PCB, SLC & BCB.

— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) February 5, 2023

In a strong-worded response on the’report,’ the PCB said that none of the members had expressed any intention of seeking government permission to compete in the Asia Cup in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Cricket Board statement explained: “Cricinfo, in its story under the headline Decision on Asia Cup venue postponed to March 2023, stated: ‘In addition, all ACC members are believed to have been asked to seek their own government’s positions on whether their teams can travel to Pakistan.’

The PCB wishes to clarify that no such matters were raised in the meeting, nor did any member indicate any intention to seek government clearance for playing in Pakistan. Sri Lanka has recently visited Pakistan in 2017 and 2019, while Bangladesh has toured Pakistan in 2020.

In the 2023-2027 Future Tours Programme (FTP), which has been agreed and announced by all ICC Members, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have confirmed their tours to Pakistan.”

Meanwhile, according to a source, PCB Chairman Sethi met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif last Tuesday before departing for Bahrain and addressed the situation with him.

“Sethi has made his opinion extremely clear to Shah and he travelled to Bahrain after visiting Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif last Tuesday. Sethi made clear that the Asia Cup is a multi-team tournament and the Pakistan government is prepared to issue security assurances to the Indian squad. So there’s no reason for the BCCI not to send a squad to Pakistan this September,” the source explained.

“Sethi also stated unequivocally that if the BCCI is unable to obtain permission from its government for the Asia Cup, Pakistan will not go to India for the ODI World Cup.”

The impasse is likely to be overcome in March, with the event taking place in September of this year.