Pakistan’s hopes of hosting the Asian Continental tournament Asia Cup 2023 are looking far from getting fulfilled as the Asian Cricket Council are exploring other options to deny Pakistan from hosting the event. This move was inevitable and was always a possibility since the BCCI announced that team India will not travel to Pakistan.
According to reports, ACC are exploring Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh and UAE as the potential options to schedule the event during September. Due to tormented political relationship between India and Pakistan, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah stated that the government did not give a proper clearance for India to travel across the Border.
🤣🤣🤣 Asia Cup with aus and SA pic.twitter.com/MtdCiXE0u2
— save male nurses (@revoke80_20) May 8, 2023
The last time Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup was way back in 2004 and it was going to be for the first time since then that Pakistan were allotted with the hosting rights. However, ACC’s latest announcement is not something that PCB were looking for.
It is supposed to be a 6-team tournament but it seems as if they will most likely boycott from featuring. The final decision is not being made yet and a concrete decision will be taken by the end of this month. Other nations like Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have approved the possibility of taking the Asia Cup to the Island nation.
Pakistan set to lose another cric-political battle.
Asia Cup set to be staged in Sri Lanka instead of Pakistan. Broadcasters didn't agree to hybrid model due to logistical issues. (1/2)#AsiaCup #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/CuINJv2FSc
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) May 9, 2023
For a fact, PCB did everything they could to retain the rights of hosting. When BCCI refused to send India to Pakistan, PCB proposed a Hybrid model which would have seen India play their matches at Dubai but it was straight up declined for several reasons.
The first objection came when the broadcasters said no and then the weather is also a major concern. During September, UAE experiences a lot of heat and with the ICC Cricket World cup in October, it is unlikely that BCCI will endanger the players by sending them to play in tough situations.
The last time UAE hosted the Asia Cup was back in 2018 when India became champions in the 50-over format of the event. This year too, Asia Cup will be played in the 2nd longest format because of the World cup to follow. Asia Cup 2023 will most probably begin from September 2.
