‘BCCI stayed firm to their decision.’
India decided to play Asian Trophy matches out of Pakistan as this season of the Asian Trophy is going to be hosted by Pakistan. To this action, now, Pakistan wants to play their matches in the ICC World Cup out of India. Pakistan has expressed a preference to play their matches in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh rather than India, in a tit-for-tat move, as India is set to host the upcoming World Cup event.
The argument has been made by both countries on the topic of the Asian Trophy’s presidency. According to the ICC calendar, Pakistan will be hosting the Asian Trophy for this season, but “due to security concerns, the Indian team will not be playing any match in Pakistan”, stated Jay Shah, BCCI secretary. Hence, the Former President of PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board), Ramiz Raja boycotted the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Pakistan is considering taking the proposal by the PCB to play the Asian Trophy in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh seriously, as a positive response to the ANI report. If India is not going to play in Pakistan then we won’t be coming to play in India, targeted by the BCCI by PCB.
The President of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi expressed that it is important to address the matter of PCB and BCCI’s relocation. He also noted that Pakistan has gained significant strength through the Pakistan Super League, and therefore, any potential loss from the relocation would not have a major impact.
In other words, the relocation issue needs to be resolved by respective boards, but Pakistan’s current position, supported by the success of the Pakistan Super League means that any losses incurred would not be significant enough to cause a major difference.
Statement of ICC’s General Manager
International Cricket Council’s General Manager, Wasim Khan stated that he had no idea whether that issue would be solved or not. On the contrary, he felt that Pakistan will not be playing in India and the matches will have to be arranged in another country instead of India, expressed Wasim Khan during a press conference.
BCCI standing strong
On the other hand, the BCCI remained steadfast in their resolution to hold all the matches in India. The BCCI also stated that “ the ICC is responsible for the World Cup championship and it should be respected. As India is the host country for this year’s event, any attempts by Pakistan to interfere will not be tolerated and are destined to fail.”