The Asia Cup 2023 is being jointly hosted by Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Jay Shah has revealed why the Asia Cup 2023 tournament was not fully hosted by Pakistan and the reason behind UAE not being considered as an alternate venue for the tournament.
Pakistan was given the hosting rights of the Asia Cup 2023, but then BCCI announced last year that India will not travel to the country for the tournament and Jay Shah revealed that the event will be moved to a neutral venue.
After much deliberation, threats, and negotiations the PCB put forth UAE as the venue for the Asia Cup, but the BCCI and ACC, along with other members refused to play in the desert nation due to severe heat in September.
This was despite UAE having hosted the 2018 Asia Cup in ODI format, the T20 World Cup 2021, and Asia Cup 2022 in T20I format previously.
Again, negotiations happened and it was finalized that Pakistan would host 4 matches of the Asia Cup and Sri Lanka would host the rest of the game and the final.
However, with rains playing spoilsport in Sri Lanka, as the India vs., Pakistan match was abandoned after India batted and then the Nepal-India match saw the second innings being curtailed to 23 overs, questions were raised as to why the tournament was not played in UAE.
Even Ex-PCB chief Najam Sethi took a dig at ACC chief Jay Shah for not accepting his proposal for UAE as the Asia Cup venue.
Now, Jay Shah issued a comprehensive statement on venue selection for the ongoing Asia Cup and why UAE wasn’t an ideal choice. The ACC chief and BCCI secretary also touched upon the back-and-forth that happened with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) due to the leadership changes.
Here is the complete statement by ACC chief Jay Shah:
“All the full members, media rights holders, and in-stadia rights holders were initially hesitant to commit to hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan. This reluctance stemmed from concerns related to the security and economic situation prevailing in the country.
In my capacity as ACC President, I was committed to finding a viable and mutually agreeable solution. To this end, I accepted the hybrid model that was proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in collaboration with the ACC management. However, it’s important to note that the leadership of the PCB underwent several changes, and this resulted in some back-and-forth negotiations, particularly regarding crucial aspects such as tax exemption and insurance for matches.
The Asia Cup 2022 edition was played in the UAE in the T20 format. It’s important to emphasize that the dynamics of a T20 tournament cannot be directly compared to those of a 100-over One-day format. In this context, ACC members received feedback from their respective high-performance teams, expressing concerns about playing One-day matches in the UAE in the month of September. Such a schedule could have potentially led to player fatigue and an increased risk of injuries, particularly right before the all-important ICC Cricket World Cup.
The decision-making process regarding the Asia Cup 2023 format and venue was guided by a sincere desire to prioritize the well-being of the players, as well as the overarching interests of the sport. Ultimately, the goal was to strike a balance that would allow for a competitive and successful tournament while ensuring the health and readiness of the participating teams for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.”
(News18 inputs)