Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) acting head Najam Sethi has once again warned relevant bodies that Pakistan may end up boycotting the ODI World Cup in India if it is forced to give up the hosting duties of the 2023 Asia Cup.
Najam Sethi made the comments while talking to an international media outlet.
India has outright refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup but has also constantly refuted ideas presented by PCB to find a workaround to the problem. The hybrid model, which Pakistan feel is fair to all parties, has been rejected with India hoping to move the whole tournament out of the country.
The result has been even more animosity between the two countries.
BCCI should take a good, rational decision so that we don’t have any problems going forward, Sethi said.
India should not be looking at a situation where we end up boycotting the Asia Cup and also the World Cup, and then India ends up boycotting the Champions Trophy, he added.
Pakistan boycotting the ODI World Cup would be a colossal disaster for everyone involved.
The 1992 winners of the competition are the no2 ranked team in the world even ahead of India. Pakistan has the no1, the no3 and no4 ranked batters in the format underscoring their dominance of the game.
Them sitting out the premier cricketing competition would be a less-than-optimal outcome for the ICC.
Sethi’s warnings do not seem to be empty this time around. If diplomatic avenues fail, Pakistan may have to show some stern reaction to get things back on track.
Prior to this development, a tentative date for the fixture between Pakistan and India was available. However, that appears to be in jeopardy as well.
This logjam that started out of seemingly nothing now has the potential to shake the very core of the cricketing world.
