UAE likely to host Asia Cup 2023, decision on venue deferred to next month
MANAMA: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is expected to shit Asia Cup from Pakistan and decide on an alternate venue in March as BCCI secretary Jay Shah and PCB chairman Najam Sethi discussed the issue during a formal meeting in Bahrain on Saturday.
All heads of ACC member nations atended the emergent meeting which was called at the behest of Sethi ater the continental body released its itinerary and Pakistan wasn’t named the hosts for the Asia Cup.
It is understood that the UAE with three venues — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah — are favourites to host the tournament but the decision has been withheld for the time being.
The Asia Cup was initially alloted to Pakistan and was scheduled in September this year but Shah, who is also the ACC chairman, had announced last October that India will not travel to Pakistan due diplomatic tension between the two nations.
“The ACC had a constructive dialogue on the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. The Board agreed to continue discussions on operations, timelines and any other specifics with a view to ensure the success of the tournament. An update on the mater would be taken on the next ACC Executive Board Meeting to be held in March 2023,” ACC said in a statement.
While a decision will come only next month, a senior BCCI official privy to the development told PTI that it is highly unlikely that Pakistan will host the tournament.
“With India deciding against travelling to Pakistan, the tournament will have to be shited. A tournament without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will have the sponsors back out,” the official said.
Shah, who is also the president of the Asian
Cricket Council (ACC), last year had made it clear that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan for the Continental championship and demanded that the event be moved to a neutral venue.
Ramiz Raja, who was the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief at that time, objected to it and said Pakistan will not travel to India for the ODI World Cup later this year.
With Sethi returning to the helm of PCB, he took up the issue and sought a meeting of the
ACC Board to discuss the mater.
One ACC insider said Sethi has just taken over PCB and if he had ceded ground on the hosting rights in the first meeting itself, then it would have led to a bad impression at home.
So strategically, if the tournament is held in the UAE, there is every possibility that all the member nations will also get to earn apart from the broadcast revenues.
Notably, Pakistan and India do not play bilateral cricket and only meet in global tournaments or multi-team events since 2013 due to strained political tensions between the two countries.
India’s last trip to Pakistan was for the 2008 Asia Cup, while Pakistan’s last visit to India was for the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup. The two teams last played each other at the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
Ater years of isolation following the 2009 atack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore, Pakistan has returned to hosting international cricket regularly over the last three years, with nearly all full members (other than India) visiting the country for red- and white-ball cricket.
In another decision, the ACC has decided to increase the annual budget allocated for Afghanistan Cricket Association to 15 percent from six. The ACC has assured that it will help the Afghanistan board in all possible ways so that women’s cricket can be revived in the country. Women are banned from playing sport under Taliban rule.
The Executive Board also approved of the inclusion of teams from Japan and Indonesia in the ACC pathway tournaments to participate in the events as invitees.