The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s decision to not send its team to the Asia Emerging Nations Cup in Pakistan has put the tournament’s hosting in the country in jeopardy. The event is slated to be played in April 2018.
As per the reports in PTI, one of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials said that because of India’s unwillingness to send its team to Pakistan, the Asia Emerging Nations Cup might be shifted to either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
“We agreed to host the event in April this year on the understanding that all nations would participate in it,” a PCB official stated according to PTI.
While addressing the media in Dubai, PCB chairman Najam Sethi said that as Asian Cricket Council chief, he would soon be holding a meeting of the ACC in Colombo to take final decisions on the Asia Emerging Nations Cup and Asia Cup, slated to take place in India this September.
Playing Pakistan has always been a dilemma for the BCCI. Earlier last year, the cricket board had sought clearance from the Indian government to play a bilateral series with the arch-rivals. Amid all the tussle between both the countries at the LOC, the request was expectedly turned down by the BJP ruled Indian government.
It is pertinent to mention that both the boards had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2014, as per which the arch-rivals should have played six bilateral series between 2015-2023.
India and Pakistan do lock horns with each other during the world events and had played in the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June 2017. As far as featuring in a bilateral series is concerned – India had last played Pakistan in 2012-13 in a three-match ODI series at home. They have not played a Test series since 2007. However, Pakistan had travelled to Indian to play the 2011 World Cup and 2016 World T20.
Sethi also clarified that his involvement in the ICC board meetings in Kolkata in April would depend on whether the ICC could get a visa for him from India.
“I have no interest in travelling to India. If the Indian authorities issue a visa I will go if not the ICC should see,” Sethi quoted by PTI as saying.
He concluded by saying that the next meeting of ACC will decide the venues and dates of the Asian Emerging Nations and Asia Cup events.
“We will soon decide the dates for the meeting in Colombo,” Sethi concluded.
