Asia Cup 2023 likely to move out of Pakistan, final decision from ACC in March

The Asia Cup 2023 is likely to be moved out of Pakistan and held in the UAE.

The development comes after the Asian Cricket Council meeting which was held in Bahrain on Saturday, February 4. A call on the venue of the Asia Cup was not taken at the meeting but it’s likely that Pakistan will not host the 50-over tournament in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup.

A final call on the Asia Cup hosts will be taken after another ACC meeting, which is likely to be held in March. The meeting in Bahrain was attended by ACC chief Jay Shah, Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi and representatives of the member nations.

“The ACC had a constructive dialogue on the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. The Board agreed to continue discussions on operations, timelines and any other specifics with a view to ensuring the success of the tournament. An update on the matter would be taken on the next ACC Executive Board Meeting to be held in March 2023,” the ACC said in a statement.

The ACC had confirmed the fixtures for Asian cricket until 2024 and said the Asia Cup would be held in September 2023 even as it did not confirm the venue for the 50-over tournament.

Pakistan have the hosting rights for the 50-over tournament, which will be played in the lead-up to the World Cup in India. However, Indian cricket board (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah had said last year that the Asia Cup would be moved out of Pakistan, leading to strong reactions from former Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ramiz Raja. Raja had threatened Pakistan would boycott the World Cup in India if the Men in Blue decided against travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2023.

The BCCI has been maintaining that it will be the Indian government that would take a call on whether or not travel to Pakistan in the future and it would abide by the decision taken at the Centre.

While the final call is expected to come in March, Sri Lanka might also be considered for hosting the 50-over tournament, sources have said. Notably, the Asia Cup T20 last year was moved out of Sri Lanka due to the political turmoil in the country. UAE hosted the T20 tournament ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

The stand-off over the venue of the Asia Cup has dominated headlines over the last few months. Newly-appointed PCB chief Najam Sethi also took a dig at Jay Shah after the ACC announced the schedule for the tournament. After the ACC announced that the Asia Cup would be held in September, Sethi took a cheeky dig at Shah, urging him to also announce the schedule of Paksitan Super League, adding that the call was taken “unilaterally”.

The ACC, in a statement, called Najam Sethi’s claims baseless and that the Pakistan Cricket Board was also communicated about the calendar of Asian cricket in an email in December.

In an interview to SportsTak, PCB chief Najam Sethi also questioned India’s stand on not travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. Sethi reiterated that Pakistan’s decision on whether or not travel to India for the World Cup will be taken by the Pakistan government.

AFGHANISTAN BUDGET INCREASED

Meanwhile, at the ACC meeting the budget for Afghanistan cricket was also increased even as the country faces backlash for detiriorating women’s rights in the country. Australia decided to cancel their ODI series against Afghanistan in March in the UAE shortly after Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration, in December, imposed a ban on women attending universities. Girls have been banned from high school since March. They have also been excluded from parks and gyms.