According to a reliable source in the Pakistan Cricket Board, officials from Pakistan are against the decision to move the Asia Cup to Sri Lanka this year. They are considering a boycott of the regional tournament if the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) does not accept their proposal.
During a meeting with the Asian Cricket Council in Dubai, Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi objected to the relocation and urged the ACC to adopt Pakistan’s revised hybrid model proposal schedule for the Asia Cup. Sethi argued that if the majority of members want the tournament to be held elsewhere, it should still be held in the UAE, where it was held in 2018 and 2022.
Sethi also dismissed the concerns of the BCCI, which conveyed to the ACC that playing in the UAE in September would be too hot. Sethi pointed out that the BCCI had held its IPL in the UAE from September to November in 2020.
“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 in September to November in 2020,” an official source was quoted as saying.
According to the same source, Najam Sethi has proposed a new hybrid model schedule for the Asia Cup, which the Asian Cricket Council should not reject.
The source also revealed that the Pakistan Cricket Board was taken aback by the news that the Sri Lankan board, with the support of the BCCI, had expressed its desire to host the tournament this year. The source added that earlier, in February’s ACC board meeting, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan had already rejected Sri Lanka’s proposal, and it was agreed that Pakistan would host the event.
Before leaving for Dubai, Sethi instructed his officials to work on organizing a three to four nation event in Pakistan during the Asia Cup window if the continental event is not held in the country.