LAHORE: Zaka Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee, and Jay Shah, who is the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), will meet on the sidelines of the chief executives’ committee (CEC) meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s annual session in Durban, South Africa, on Tuesday (today).
The Asia Cup, which will take place in Pakistan and Sri Lanka through the hybrid model, and Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup in India will be part of the agenda during the meeting.
The PCB is likely to push for the increase in the number of matches in Pakistan during the Asia Cup. The venue for the matches in Sri Lanka and the schedule, which is yet to be announced, for the Asia Cup is also likely to be discussed.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has set up a high-profile committee in order to decide whether the Men in Green will travel to India for the Cricket World Cup in October-November 2023. The committee will be led by foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Earlier, the Minister of Inter-Provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari expressed his reservations over Pakistan touring India for this year’s ICC World Cup.
Mazari said that Pakistan should demand that their Cricket World Cup matches are played at a neutral venue since India did the same with regards to the Asia Cup 2023.
“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.
Mazari also brushed aside the notion that Pakistan wasn’t a safe country to play cricket, while also criticising India for mixing politics with sports.
“India brings sports into politics. I don’t understand why the Indian government doesn’t want to send their cricket team here. Some time back a huge baseball contingent from India was in Islamabad to play. There was also the bridge team that had travelled to Pakistan. There were around 60 plus people, I was the chief guest of the event. They won here and left. Pakistan’s football, hockey and chess teams also travel to India,” he said.
“It [security concerns] wasn’t a solid argument. 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,” he added.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.