Najam Sethi, Chairman of the PCB Management Committee, has stated that if Pakistan’s rights to host the Asia Cup of cricket are revoked, a boycott of the World Cup competitions in India will become a very real possibility.
According to Najam Sethi of the British news agency Reuters, Pakistan’s hosting of Asia Cup cricket competitions is set in stone, and if the rights are revoked, there is a very real possibility that Pakistan will host India this year. Cricket will abstain from World Cup matches.
It should be noted that Pakistan and India are not only neighboring and traditional rival countries, but their tense political relations have also done a lot of damage to bilateral cricket.
Bilateral cricket matches between the two countries have been suspended for the past decade, while multinational cricket matches pit teams from both countries against each other in a neutral third country.
The Asia Cup cricket tournament will be held in Pakistan this September, according to Reuters, but the cricket board of neighboring India has ruled out the possibility of the Indian team travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, citing security concerns.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has also offered to use a ‘hybrid model’ in hosting the Asia Cup, and the Indian team can play Asia Cup matches in the United Arab Emirates if it so desires.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has yet to respond to the PCB’s offer to India.
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Najam Sethi has now stated that India does not wish to respond to the BCCI’s offer to the PCB regarding the location of the Indian team’s Asia Cup matches. The entire Asia Cup should be relocated away from Pakistan.
He stated that they (Indian cricket authorities) prefer that all matches be played at neutral grounds. BCCI should make a better and more logical decision in this regard, and we will have no problem following it. India should not consider a situation in which we must boycott the Asia Cup, the World Cup, and the upcoming Champions Trophy.
The head of the Pakistan Cricket Board also stated that moving the Asia Cup from Pakistan to another location would be unacceptable, and that if this occurs, Pakistan may boycott the World Cup.
