The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will reportedly settle the issue of the hosting rights for the 2023 Asia Cup after an emergency meeting in Bahrain on Saturday.
Acting head of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Mr Najam Sethi, reportedly called for the emergency meeting during his time in UAE for the opening ceremony of the ongoing ILT20.
The issue stems from India’s insistence on hosting the 2023 Asia Cup on a neutral site instead of Pakistan which is the rightful host validated by ACC earlier. Pakistan, in a rebuttal, threatened to pull its team from the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup set to be staged in India later in 2023.
A brief reconciliation hope was established when Najam Sethi took over the affairs but ACC’s decision to “unilaterally” present the cricketing calendar fractured the relationship even more.
The 2022 Asia Cup was also staged on a neutral venue in UAE after Sri Lanka was deemed unsuitable for staging the event.
UAE also leads the way as an alternative option this year if PCB cannot convince Jay Shah, who owns a prominent role in both ACC and India’s BCCI, to change his mind.
Due to the political animosity between the two nations, Pakistan and India have only played each other in ICC-sanctioned events with their last bilateral series coming way back in 2012/13.
