PCB Insists on Holding Asia Cup on Hybrid Model, May Travel to India to Play in World Cup
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 11: Considerably mellowed down from its earlier stand, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi has said Pakistan might boycott the Asia Cup if the Asian Cricket Council did not accept the PCB’s proposal for holding the tournament on a hybrid model.
The PCB, however, is learnt to have intimated the International Cricket Council (ICC) that it was not thinking of boycotting the World Cup scheduled in India in October, this year, if bulk of its matches were played in Kolkata and Chennai.
Sethi said the PCB, which was the host for the 2023 ODI Asia Cup, has proposed to the ACC that the tournament may be held on a hybrid model in which India play all its matches on an offshore venue and Pakistan host all other matches at home.
The proposal was given after Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it would not send the Indian team if the tournament was held in Pakistan and not shifted to a neutral venue. Pakistan was earlier insisting that India must accept to play in Pakistan which has earned the hosting right for this year’s tournament.
The PCB chairman said the Pakistan cricket board could lose around three million US dollars in revenues from the tournament if the country refuses to play in the Asia Cup this year. Sethi said Pakistan was willing to bear this loss of revenue as it was “a matter of principle” as far as the hosting rights of the Asia Cup are concerned. “We have made it very clear that unless the Asia Cup is held on a hybrid model like we have proposed, that is India playing its matches at an offshore venue and Pakistan hosting the remaining games at home we will not accept any other schedule and neither play,” he said.
Pakistan is due to host the Asia Cup in September but uncertainty surrounds the venue of the tournament as India has made it clear it can’t play in Pakistan. Sethi has proposed a “hybrid model” to host the Asia Cup where India will play its matches at an offshore venue. “We will not lose our hosting rights,” he added.
“Security is no excuse for them now and we have told them if their government is not giving them clearance to play in Pakistan show us some written proof of this,” Sethi said. “When all other teams including Australia, England, New Zealand are playing in Pakistan without any issues there should be no security concerns for India to tour Pakistan.”
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The PCB chairman said 80 percent of the revenues earned by the Asian Cricket Council came from India and Pakistan matches. To a question he conceded that if the ACC accepted the hybrid model for the tournament it could have a bearing on the ICC World Cup as well.
Asked about a possible refusal by Pakistan to play in the World Cup, which will be hosted in India in October this year, Sethi said relations with ICC were different and in such a scenario the relations could be affected negatively.
But the sources in the ICC said Pakistan might not risk boycotting the World Cup reciprocating India’s insistence on playing the matches on neutral venue which could spoil its relations with the ICC and cause it financial harm on a long-term basis. For now Pakistan says it would prefer playing bulk of its 2023 ODI World Cup matches in Chennai and Kolkata — the two venues where the team has felt safe during its earlier tours, the ICC sources said.
The World Cup will start tentatively on October 5, with 46 matches including the final, set to be played across 12 Indian cities. The venues so far tentatively decided include Ahmedabad where the final is set to be hosted, Lucknow, Mumbai, Rajkot, Bengaluru, Delhi, Indore, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Dharamashala.
It is understood that discussions are currently on at the ICC level as the PCB bigwigs are in talks with a top level ICC executive on the issue, which still remains a sensitive one. “A lot will depend on what BCCI and the Indian government decide but given a choice, Pakistan will like to play most of its World Cup matches in Kolkata and Chennai.
“In Kolkata, Pakistan played its T20 World Cup game against India in 2016 and the players were very happy with the security. Similarly, Chennai as a venue remains memorable for Pakistan. It’s also about feeling safe at specific venues,” a source close to ICC Board said.
The bone of contention, however, will be the India versus Pakistan game. While Ahmedabad with 1,32,000 capacity gives ICC, the best chance to earn optimum profits but the Narendra Modi Stadium is already hosting the final, so another venue might host the game.
Each team will play nine games at the league stage which will be held in round-robin format. The ICC’s Events committee, in association with host cricket board BCCI, will chalk out the final itinerary in the next few months so that it allows fans across India and other parts to plan their travel itinerary.
Recently, ICC General Manager Wasim Khan, in his own capacity had told the Pakistani media that Pakistan team could play its matches in Bangladesh as a part of a ‘hybrid model’ that could be followed since the Indian team is not travelling to the country for the Asia Cup. But Najam Sethi had rubbished the idea of playing World Cup games in Bangladesh. More so, ICC had made it clear that no such proposal had come from Pakistan about ‘hybrid model’ for global tournaments.
During the 2011 World Cup, Pakistan’s semi-final against India was played at Mohali, which made it logistically convenient for the fans across the border to travel through Wagah Border. However, Mohali does not figure in the 12 venues finalised by the BCCI so far. A lot has changed since then and in these sensitive times, it will be very difficult to host Pakistan in some of the specific venues, including Mumbai and Dharamshala.
While security will be top notch for each team, the BCCI as well as the Indian government would like to ensure that there aren’t any untoward incidents.
