Decision on Asia Cup venue postponed till March 2023

PCB Chairman Najam Sethi told Shah that if India don’t play Asia Cup in Pakistan, Pakistan will consider not playing in India for the 2023 World Cup

Islamabad, The Gulf Observer: A final decision on whether Pakistan will host the 2023 Asia Cup is now expected in March, after an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Bahrain failed to reach a breakthrough. They will meet again in a month’s time, around the next set of ICC meetings.

The uncertainty around the 2023 Asia Cup began in October when the ACC president, and BCCI secretary, Jay Shah said it will be held in a neutral venue because India can’t travel to Pakistan.

The PCB took particular exception to that and ESPNCricinfo understands that on Saturday PCB chief Najam Sethi told Shah that if India don’t play in Pakistan, Pakistan will consider not playing in India for the 2023 World Cup.

This has led to the deadlock which needs revisiting in March when the ICC and ACC meetings take place one after the other. The issues across tournaments, in the PCB’s views, are the same, whether it is the Asia Cup, the 2023 World Cup or the 2025 Champions Trophy, to be staged in Pakistan. Depending on what happens in those March meetings – and the PCB is likely to go in again with the same stance – a decision may be left to the Pakistan government to take a call on.

In addition, all ACC members are believed to have been asked to seek their own government’s positions on whether their teams can travel to Pakistan.