According to Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja, Pakistan may consider boycotting the 2023 Asia Cup if their hosting rights are revoked because India won’t be visiting the nation.
The Asian Cricket Council president and BCCI secretary Jay Shah had previously stated following the Indian board’s annual general meeting in October that “the Asia Cup 2023 will be conducted at a neutral venue” because India couldn’t travel to Pakistan.
Anurag Thakur, former president of the BCCI and India’s sports minister, stated that the Indian side’s visit to Pakistan will depend on the guidance of the home ministry a few days after Shah’s remarks.
“It’s not as if we don’t have hosting rights and we’re pleading to host it. We won the rights fair and square. If India doesn’t come, they won’t come. If the Asia Cup gets taken away from Pakistan, maybe we’re the ones that pull out,”
Raja remarked.
Pakistan last visited India in 2016 for the T20 World Cup, while India last toured Pakistan in 2008 for the Asia Cup. Since Pakistan toured India in 2012–13 for a white-ball series, there hasn’t been any bilateral cricket between the nations due to tense political ties; instead, the teams have only faced off at ACC and ICC tournaments.
Recently, they faced off against one another once at the T20 World Cup in Melbourne in October 2022 and twice during the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
“We’ve shown we can host great teams. I can understand issues relating to bilateral cricket, but the Asia Cup is a multi-nation tournament, almost as big as the World Cup for the Asian bloc.
Why give it to us in the first place and then make all those statements about India not travelling to Pakistan? I accept that India won’t come because the government won’t allow them to come – fine. But to take the Asia Cup away from the host on that basis isn’t right,”
Raja added.
He added that shifting the Asia Cup from Pakistan to a neutral location for the following year would be “caving in” to political pressures. Instead, Ramiz advocated for playing bilaterally and in both nations.
Raja took the example of the current football World Cup, which is taking place in Qatar. Although the tournament has been marred with controversy, Raja said that sport must rise above political issues, saying:
“You saw what happened in the World Cup – 90,000 fans turned up [at MCG]. I am just a little disappointed with the ICC. When the point was put to the FIFA president why is the US playing Iran, Iran has so many issues regarding women’s rights, he picked up the football and said this can solve a lot of issues. Through sport we can take care of the tribe mentality. I feel let bat and ball talk.”
Given that India will host the 50-over World Cup in October–November 2023, the next men’s ICC international tournament, the timing of this controversy has the potential to grow into something bigger. Pakistan has previously expressed the potential to withdraw if the Asia Cup is relocated elsewhere.
Additionally, some PCB members have also threatened a potential Pakistan withdrawal from the ODI World Cup in India in 2023. This issue is very likely to be compounded as political involvement increases.
