Let’s take a look at Najam Sethi boldly claims that Pakistani team won’t travel to India for World Cup.
Najam Sethi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has made a daring declaration. The team won’t be able to travel to India for the ICC World Cup 2023 later this year, he claimed in a statement to Sports Tak.
The only way Pakistan will take part in the competition, according to Najam Sethi, is if their matches are played at a neutral site. According to various reports, the World Cup 2023 will be held in India between October and November. The locations for the matches have also been chosen.
The whole controversy between India and Pakistan relating to this has been because of the venue transfer for the Asia Cup 2023. The hosting rights holder, PCB, is eager to hold the tournament in their own country, but BCCI has objected and is unwilling to travel to Pakistan for security reasons.
A hybrid plan put forth by the PCB stated that Pakistan would host all other matches while the Indian team would play its matches in the United Arab Emirates. Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has, however, rejected the plan and is eager to move the entire competition to a neutral location.
It is known that PCB has made a definite stance that if the location of the event changes, they will withdraw from the competition. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have also backed ACC in transferring the tournament to a neutral venue.
Recently, Najam Sethi came to Dubai to meet with ACC representatives. It is discovered that they are unwilling to shift the event to another location at any cost and that he has presented a redesigned hybrid format.
In an interview with News, Najam Sethi stated that although nothing regarding the Asia Cup has been decided upon yet, a final choice is anticipated within the next two weeks. He stated:
Nothing has been decided upon yet. Within the following two weeks, we will know the outcome of the Asia Cup cricket.
Sri Lanka has emerged as the front-runner to host the event amid all the discussions. Although there has been no formal confirmation, it is unlikely that the tournament would be held there given the stance the PCB has adopted.
The 2023 September date for the Asia Cup has been set. Along with Nepal, India and Pakistan are grouped together. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are grouped together in the second Group.
