PCB Chairman Najam Sethi to take strong stance for Asia Cup 2023

There has been a lot of debate going on about the Asia Cup 2023 which is scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan this year. Meanwhile, Indian Cricket Board had already made clear that they will not send their team to Pakistan for the tournament. There were rumours that the tournament can be shifted to UAE. After that, is was reported that India will play their matches in a neutral venue while the rest of the tournament will be held in Pakistan.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman, Najam Sethi said that Pakistan would take a strong stance on the upcoming Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup that will be hosted by India later in the year. Sethi expressed displeasure on Indian Cricket Board’s secretary Jay Shah’s statement who said that the tournament will be held in a neutral venue. PCB Chairman threatened to pull of the ODI World Cup after that.

‘We will not lose our hosting rights’ – Sethi

“We have made it very clear that unless the Asia Cup is held on a hybrid model like we have proposed, that is India playing its matches at an offshore venue and Pakistan hosting the remaining games at home, we will not accept any other schedule and neither play,” said Sethi as quoted by Indian Today.

“We will not lose our hosting rights. Security is no excuse for them now and we have told them if their government is not giving them clearance to play in Pakistan, show us some written proof of this,” he further added.

It is noted that India have not travelled to Pakistan since 2008 when they travelled to the country for Asia Cup. Both countries haven’t played a bilateral series with each other since 2012 due to the political tensions between them. India and Pakistan only meet during multinational tournaments like Asia Cup and World Cup.

Pakistan, who were the runners in the previous edition of the Asia Cup will be looking to win the tournament in front of their home crowd. While India, who were knocked out from the Top-4 last year will be looking to bring back their dominance among the Asian countries and win the cup