Sri Lanka Propose to host Asia Cup 2023, Unhappy PCB refuses to play ODI series against Sri Lanka: Reports: Following the latest developments, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) seems to be disgruntled with Sri Lankan Cricket Board (SLC) after the latter proposed to host the Asia Cup 2023 on their own soil amid the ongoing brawl between PCB and BCCI. As per the reports, PCB has retaliated harshly against Sri Lanka with a couple of consequences.
For a brief history to the matter, the PCB were awarded exclusive hosting rights for the Asia Cup 2023 last year. However, later, Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chief, asserted that the Indian side won’t travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 matches because of the obvious reasons of terror and threat. He further mentioned that team India will only take part in the tournament if it is shifted to a neutral venue.
In response to Shah’s statement of not letting Men in Blue travel to Pakistan, the then-PCB chief Ramiz Raza threatened BCCI of not participating in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, later this year.
Since then, cricket experts from India and Pakistan have exchanged their views on the issue. While the Indians remained firm about not travelling to Pakistan, the Pakistanis, on the other side, have put in their efforts to convince India to visit their country.
Meanwhile, recent reports suggest that PCB is not happy with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) taking Indian Cricket Board’s side on the issue of Asia Cup 2023 and subsequently proposing to host the entire tournament.
Pakistan retaliated to Sri Lanka’s proposal by turning down Sri Lanka’s proposal to play a few One Day International (ODI) games when Pakistan visits Sri Lanka, later in July this year, to play two-match test series.
“An example of the increasingly strained relations between the two boards emerged after the PCB turned down a proposal by the Lankans to play a few One-Day International matches next month in Sri Lanka,” a PCB source was quoted as saying in the PTI report.
Pakistan has made every effort to push its case to convince Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to host at least a few Asia Cup 2023 matches on their soil before it moves away to the neutral venue.
“It is a clear indication that the PCB is not happy with the Sri Lankan board stepping in to offer to host the Asia Cup in September when it is Pakistan’s turn to host the regional event at home,” the source added.
This year’s Asia Cup is scheduled to begin on September 2 with Sri Lanka and Afghanistan playing the tournament opener. The six-team event is to be played in the ODI format in the wake of the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023. The continental tournament is all set, however, the venues are still not confirmed despite multiple rounds of meetings in the past few months.
Earlier it was reported that all the Asia Cup 2023 matches involving India will be held in a neutral venue, possibly UAE or Sri Lanka, while the remaining matches of other participating teams will be staged in Pakistan itself. However, this method turned out to be exhausting and inefficient.
It remains to be seen, what unfolds next in the quarrel between BCCI and PCB. Whether PCB agrees to host the Asia Cup 2023 in a neutral venue or it somehow manages to bring it to its own soil, will be interesting to see.
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For more details head to ACC’s official website.
