The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi has confirmed that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has accepted the PCB’s request to hold an executive board meeting to discuss the forthcoming edition of the Asia Cup. The meeting is scheduled to be held on February 4 in Bahrain, where the ACC and PCB will discuss the hosting rights and India’s participation in the event.
Sethi shared that during his recent visit to Dubai, he was able to convince the ACC members to hold the board meeting. “It is a major development that the ACC board will meet on 4th February in Bahrain and matters relating to the Asia Cup will be discussed. There will also be an ICC meeting in March and I don’t want to go public with what negotiations I had with ACC members in Dubai or what I plan to do, argue or discuss at the coming meetings. But yes, definitely India and Pakistan cricket relations are important,” Sethi said in a statement.
The PCB Chairman’s confirmation comes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and PCB have been at loggerheads with the issue of the host nation of the Asia Cup 2023. The BCCI had announced that the Indian national team will not be travelling to Pakistan, to which the then PCB Chief, Ramiz Raja, had threatened to pull out of the 2023 ODI World Cup, which is to be organized in India.
Sethi believes that the matters require clarity so that the global ICC and ACC events remain unaffected. “Hosting the Asia Cup this year is very important and India sending its team is a big issue because it will obviously have repercussions on the Champions Trophy being held in Pakistan in 2025,” he added. The upcoming meeting between the ACC and PCB is expected to provide clarity and resolve the issues surrounding the Asia Cup 2023 and the participation of India’s national team.
