The former head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Zaka Ashraf has taken jibes at the current regime and asked for the entire 2023 Asia Cup to be played in Pakistan.
He expressed his disagreement with PCB’s proposed hybrid model for the tournament which will see a portion of the competition take place in Pakistan with the rest of it taking place at a neutral venue.
Ashraf also advocated for India to be dismissed from the tournament if they continue to refuse to travel to Pakistan.
He mentioned New Zealand, England and Australia’s tour of the country and other Asia Cup participants’ willingness to travel to Pakistan as a guarantee that it was a safe place for foreign teams and that India does not deserve any special treatment.
If India has reservations about playing in Pakistan, they should choose to stay at home while we will complete the event with the other four nations, he was quoted as saying.
He went on to take shots at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as well for not foreseeing the issue when choosing Pakistan as the host.
It is unlikely that PCB will pay much attention to its former chairman’s comments as they are confident of convincing BCCI of its proposed model.
Pakistan won the 2012 Asia Cup when Zaka Ashraf was the chairman, one of the only two times they have managed to lift the trophy despite coming close on several occasions.
