"To Refresh Memory": Asian Council's Blunt Reminder To Pakistan Minister Over Asia Cup Remark
Pakistan's Sports Minister had said that his team would not travel to India for the ODI World Cup if the BCCI insists on a neutral venue for the Asia Cup.
As Pakistan continues to change its stance on the venue chaos pertaining to the Asia Cup and the World Cup, a senior Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has sent a firm reminder to the nation's Sports Minister who threatened to not send his team for ODI World Cup in India. The Sports Minister Ehsan Mazari said that Babar Azam's men will not travel to India for the World Cup if the BCCI doesn't send its team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. After Pakistan Cricket Board boss Zaka Ashraf and BCCI secretary Jay Shah met in Durban, however, it was finalised that the Asia Cup will indeed be held in the proposed hybrid model.
India, in all likelihood, will play Pakistan in Dambulla just like 2010 edition. Pakistan's only home match in their country will be against minnows Nepal. The other three games are Afghanistan versus Bangladesh, Bangladesh versus Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka versus Afghanistan.
The Pakistan sports minister Mazari, however, does't seem to be on the same page as the PCB. He was quoted as saying that unless India come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, Pakistan will not travel to India for the ODI World Cup.
A senior BCCI official said perhaps the Pakistan sports minister was "blissfully unaware" about the earlier meetings of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) where the all powerful executive committee had passed the hybrid model suggested by former chairman Najam Sethi.
"We aren't concerned about the internal happenings of PCB. All that we know is that PCB is a signatory to the Hybrid Model which was proposed by their representative and passed at ACC's highest body," a senior ACC board member present during that meeting told PTI.
"And just to refresh Pakistan's honourable sports minister's memory, it was PCB that had issued an official press release accepting that 4 games will be held in Pakistan and rest of the games in Sri Lanka," he added.
As far as the World Cup is concerned, the PCB is bound by ICC's Members' Participation Agreement (MPA) which was signed by the full members in 2015 for an eight year period ending 2023.
"Once you have signed an MPA, you are contractually bound to play an ICC event at a venue decided by the global body. Obviously security measures and other determining factors are always taken into account. But if a country pulls off even if security is not an issue, there could be legal and financial implications," the ICC member said.
However, the same MPA doesn't hold for the 2025 Champions Trophy which is scheduled to be held in Pakistan.
With PTI inputs
India Cricket Team
Pakistan Cricket Team