Indian Cricket board to announce new five-nation tournament; Pakistan may sacrifice Asia Cup

The 2023 Asia Cup was scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan later, this year. However, Indian Cricket Board refused to send its players to Pakistan due to the political tension between both countries. After that, Pakistan presented a hybrid model in which India could play their matches in another country while other teams would continue to play in Pakistan. Also the final venue would also be shifted from Pakistan if India qualifies.

However, Indian Cricket Board secretary Jay Shah, earlier, said that the council is waiting for the other participating teams to respond 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 two weeks ago.

Last month, Pakistan Cricket Board Management Committee chairman Najam Sethi presented the hybrid model to Jay Shah. At first, ACC President Shah also expressed his interest in the model but opposed it on his return to India.

As quoted by Cricket Pakistan, Asia Cup could be canceled this year if Pakistan doesn’t give up on their hosting rights. And it looks like that PCB is ready for it as they rejected the possibility of holding the entire tournament in another country.

UAE is ready to host the tournament again while Sri Lanka have also proposed to host Asia Cup in their country. However, PCB believes that the issue is not resolved now as they the Champions Trophy 2025 is also scheduled to take place in Pakistan and problems can occur at that time also.

While on the other hand, Indian Cricket Board is also ready to give up on the tournament as they have already started preparations for a new five-nation tournament, which can be scheduled in a window that was booked for the Asia Cup.

Najam Sethi was supposed to travel to UAE next week for an important meeting but had to cancel due to personal reasons. The decision regarding the tournament is, reportedly, expected to be announced in a few days.