The Asia Cup 2023 is scheduled to get underway from August 31st and will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Pakistan sports minister Ehsaan Mazari has warned they will pull out from the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 should Indian team not travel his country for the Asia Cup slated to get underway from August 31.
This comes weeks after the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced that the continental event will be jointly co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka after BCCI expressed its inability to send their team across the border citing denial of permission from the Indian government.
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“My personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) comes under my ministry, is that if India demands to play their Asia Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup games in India,” Mazari told The Indian Express.
As per the schedule, four matches will be held in Pakistan during Asia Cup while nine in Sri Lanka.
India, Pakistan and Nepal have been grouped together while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are in the second group.
Mazari is against the hybrid model which will see India playing all their games in Sri Lanka. “Pakistan is the host, it has the right to hold all the matches in Pakistan. That is what the cricket lovers want, I don’t want a hybrid model,’ he said.
Earlier this week, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee, headed by foreign minister Bilal Bhutto Zardari, to discuss their cricket team’s participation in the 2023 ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in India from October 5.
“The committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it. We will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB. The PM will take the final decision,” Mazari said.
He also accused India of mixing sports and politics and brushed aside the security concerns citing the recent examples of international teams traveling to Pakistan.
“The New Zealand team was here, before that the England cricket team was in Pakistan. They got presidential security. Earlier, the Indian team was given a hearty welcome by the fans here. Security is an excuse. We also held the Pakistan Super League (PSL) that had so many foreign players,” Mazari said.
Next week, there’s an International Cricket Council meeting in South Africa which will be attended by BCCI secretary and ACC chairman Jay Shah and PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf.
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Mazari though has dismissed the reservations expressed by former PCB chairman Najam Sethi on India playing Pakistan in Ahmedabad during the ODI World Cup.
“I don’t think Ahmedabad will be an issue. Pakistan has played there earlier. But before that there should be a positive response from India. India should play in Pakistan. Zaka Ashraf has gone to South Africa and so let’s see what is decided and what happens,” he said.
