World Cup 2023: After Asia Cup 2023 hosting snub, Pakistan is set to organise a multi-nation tournament to prepare for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India. As of the current scenario, Pakistan won’t participate in the 2023 Asia Cup. If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) moves forward with its proposal to move the event to Sri Lanka, PCB officials from Pakistan are considering boycotting the continental showpiece.
For a fallback plan, Pakistan Cricket Board supremo Najam Sethi has instructed officials to start preparations for a multi-nation tournament. Before leaving for Dubai, Sethi had given instructions to his staff to start preparing for a three- or four-nation event in Pakistan in the event that the continental competition is not held there this year during the Asia Cup window.
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PCB shocked by SLC betrayal ahead of World Cup 2023
The Sri Lankan board informed the ACC that it wanted to host the Asia Cup this year with covert support from the BCCI, which startled the PCB.
It came as a surprise because Pakistan would have continued to host the Asia Cup after the Lankan proposal got rejected at the most recent ACC board meeting in February.
According to Najam Sethi to ACC, the Asia Cup 2023 should be held in the UAE rather than Pakistan.
Najam Sethi emphasised that the ACC should accept Pakistan’s updated hybrid model proposal timetable for the Asia Cup. If all the members must prefer that Asia Cup should be held somewhere else, it should be in UAE like in 2018 and 2022.
Sethi pointed out today that the BCCI had held its IPL in the UAE in September to November in 2020, dispelling the BCCI’s worries expressed to the ACC that it would be too hot to play there in September.
Pakistan to not play at Narendra Modi Stadium during WC?
If Pakistan plays in the ODI World Cup later this year, they plan to boycott matches at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. It is uncertain whether Babar Azam’s team would compete in the Asia Cup and the World Cup given that PCB is expected to lose those rights. After Pakistan’s hybrid model proposal was turned down, Sri Lanka will now host the Asia Cup.
Should BCCI fail to send the team in Pakistan for the Asia Cup, PCB has already threatened to withdraw from the ODI World Cup later this year in India.
While BCCI highlighted the Indian government’s rejection to provide their travel authorization, Pakistan shouldn’t experience a similar issue. The Men in Green, however, are averse to competing in the Narendra Modi Stadium.
The India vs. Pakistan game and the World Cup championship are both slated to be held in Ahmedabad at the largest cricket venue in the world.
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