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The Indian cricket team is unlikely to travel to Pakistan and will instead play the Asia Cup 2023 at a neutral venue according to the BCCI secretary Jay Shah who is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
The development came on the day of the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Mumbai. “The Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue,” Shah told media after the BCCI’s AGM held on Tuesday. “I am saying this as ACC President. We (India) can’t go there (Pakistan), they can’t come here. In the past also, Asia Cup has been played at a neutral venue.”
According to the International Cricket Council’s Future Tours Programme, the 2023 edition of the Asia Cup will be held in Pakistan.
However, after the BCCI’s AGM, Jay Shah who is the BCCI secretary, concluded that India will not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup and that the tournament would have to be moved to a neutral venue.
“Neutral venue for the Asia Cup is not unprecedented and we have decided that we will not travel to Pakistan,” Shah, who is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
“I have decided that we will play at a neutral venue,” he added. The new set of BCCI office bearers – the president Roger Binny, re-elected vice president Rajiv Shukla and treasurer Ashish Shelar were also present when Shah spoke to the media.
Despite this statement, The ACC has not yet officially announced that the tournament would be held at a neutral venue as the members of the ACC have not yet met to discuss the matter. This statement has raised questions within the PCB as to which capacity Shah was speaking and why he made this statement after the BCCI’s AGM. A PCB spokesperson said the board would not be commenting on the matter at this stage but a strong response is not out of the question as there is, for instance, already talk within the board about leaving the ACC.
There are two ICC events which are going to be held in India and Pakistan over the next couple of years. India is set to host the 2023 ODI World Cup soon after the Asia Cup and then Pakistan is scheduled to host the 2025 Champions Trophy. If India cannot travel to Pakistan and likewise, Pakistan cannot come to India, what impact these decisions will have on those tournaments remains to be seen. The ICC is unlikely to comment on this issue at the moment.
Pakistan’s last trip to India was at the 2016 T20 World Cup, where they got their government’s approval to travel to India only at the last minute while India’s last trip to Pakistan was for the 2008 Asia Cup.
Both countries have not played any bilateral cricket since Pakistan toured India for a white-ball series in 2012-13 due to tense political relations.
In the past, both India and Pakistan have pulled out of previous editions of the Asia Cup and the tournament itself has been cancelled on occasion because of poor ties between India and Pakistan.
In the AGM, when there was a discussion on this matter, the members were told that a decision of whether India will travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup would be taken based on the permission from the Indian government. BCCI vice-president Shukla repeated this point during an informal chat with the media. It was at this moment, Shah pointed out that India would not be travelling to Pakistan.
India and Pakistan played their previous match against each other at the 2022 Asia Cup in UAE in August-September this year. Both the teams will now face off in their T20 World Cup opener game in Melbourne on October 23.
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