Asia Cup 2023: PCB objects venue shift to Sri Lanka, mulls boycotting continental competition
Asia Cup 2023 is all set to be shifted to Sri Lanka due to BCCI's objection to playing it in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the PCB has objected to the venue move out of the country and is mulling boycotting the event.
FollowPakistan cricket officials have opposed shifting this year's Asia Cup to Sri Lanka. They are seriously mulling boycotting the continental tournament if the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) does not accept their proposal. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi met with officials of the ACC in Dubai on Tuesday and objected to the move to relocate the Asia Cup to Sri Lanka instead of having it in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"Sethi has stressed the ACC should accept Pakistan's revised hybrid model proposal schedule for the Asia Cup, and if most members wish to have it elsewhere, it must be held in UAE like in 2018 and 2022. Sethi rubbished the concerns of the BCCI conveyed to the ACC that it would be too hot to play in UAE in September by pointing out today that the BCCI had held its IPL in UAE from September to November in 2020," one reliable source in the PCB said.
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"I can tell you this much Sethi has taken a new hybrid model schedule to the ACC, and it is a proposal they shouldn't reject now," he disclosed. The source said the PCB was surprised to learn that the Sri Lankan board, with back-door support from BCCI, had told the ACC it wants to host the Asia Cup this year.
"It was a surprise because earlier at the last ACC board meeting in February, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan had rejected the Lankan proposal, and it was agreed Pakistan would remain the host," revealed the source. Before leaving for Dubai, Sethi had told his officials to start working on having a three to four-nation event in Pakistan this year in the Asia Cup window if the continental event is outside the country.
