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The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has postponed their final decision on Asia Cup 2023 venue to March after holding its Executive Board Meeting on Saturday, 4th February 2023 in Bahrain.
The Asia Cup 2023 is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September. However, BCCI secretary and ACC president, Jay Shah made a statement last year that the event will be moved to a neutral venue and the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan.
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Ramiz Raja, was disappointed with Shah’s statement and said if India doesn’t come to Pakistan to play in the Asia Cup, Pakistan will also not travel to India for the ODI World Cup later this year.
With Najam Sethi returning as the chairman of PCB, he took up the same issue and said Shah had taken the decision unilaterally and sought a meeting of the ACC Board to discuss the matter.
During the Executive Board meeting in Bahrain on Saturday, which was attended by both BCCI secretary Shah and PCB chairman Sethi along with other ACC board members, the members decided to postpone the final decision on the venue to the next ACC Executive Board Meeting to be held in March 2023.
“The ACC had a constructive dialogue on the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. The Board agreed to continue discussions on operations, timelines and any other specifics with a view to ensure the success of the tournament. An update on the matter would be taken on the next ACC Executive Board Meeting to be held in March 2023,” the ACC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the ACC executive board also approved the inclusion of teams from Japan and Indonesia in the ACC pathway tournaments and ratified ACC’s calendar of activities for the financial years 2023 and 2024.
“The Executive Board also approved of the inclusion of teams from Japan (JAPAN CRICKET ASSOCIATION) and Indonesia (PERSUTAN CRICKET INDONESIA) in the ACC pathway tournaments to participate in the events as invitees.
“The Executive Board further approved:
(a) Operational Budget for the years 2023 and 2024
(b) Distributions from Asia Cup 2022.”
India and Pakistan do not play bilateral cricket with each other due to stiff political relations between the two countries. Both the teams now meet only in the ICC and ACC tournaments.
India’s last tour to Pakistan was for the 2008 Asia Cup, while Pakistan’s last visit to India was for the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup. The two teams last played against each other at the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
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