Asia Cup 2023 Could be Cancelled? Here's What PCB is Thinking

The dark clouds over Asia Cup 2023 continue to hover with a latest report claiming that cancelling the tournament is a real possibility now since the deadlock between BCCI and Pakistan Cricket Board over the venue continues.

PCB had proposed a hybrid model after BCCI secretary Jay Shah cited refusal of go-ahead from the Indian government to send its team for this year’s Asia Cup in Pakistan.

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As per the proposal, all the participating nation barring India will play their matches in Pakistan while. The Indian team was to play their matches at a neutral venue.

However, Shah, who is also the president of the Asia Cricket Council (ACC), last month had said the BCCI is awaiting feedback from other nations to finalise the venue.

“We are awaiting feedback from other nations to finalise the venue for the 2023 Asia Cup and clarity on the India-Pakistan match,” Shah told reports in April.

BCCI has been suggesting to organise the Asia Cup at neutral venue and PCB remains vehemently against it.

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According to Cricket Pakistan, should PCB not budge over its stance on hybrid model, it’s prepared for the continental tournament to be cancelled.

The publication further reported that cricket boards of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh unsuccessfully tried convincing PCB to shift the event to a neutral venue.

There are also murmurs of BCCI planning a five-nation tournament in the event Asia Cup is not held.

The PCB in the past has threatened to boycott the ODI World Cup scheduled to be hosted by India later this year in case BCCI refuses to play in Pakistan.

While it has proposed a hybrid model, PCB chairman Najam Sethi wants it to be followed during the World Cup in India for its team as well.

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“We feel this hybrid experiment can also be applied when it is time for the World Cup. Our stance is that everything should be on a reciprocal basis. In the old times, yes, there were security issues in Pakistan. But now there are no issues, so what is India’s excuse for not playing in Pakistan?” Sethi had said in April.

India last toured Pakistan in 2008 for Asia Cup. However, due to the heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations, bilateral cricket ties between the two teams have been suspended.

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