The Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) scheduled meeting in Dhaka during the final week of July to examine the Asia Cup's future has drawn criticism from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The ACC's decision to hold the conference in Dhaka has reportedly not pleased the BCCI, which recently persuaded the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to permanently postpone India's white-ball tour to Bangladesh, initially planned for August of this year. The current president of the ACC is Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
“BCCI has informed the ACC about its unwillingness to send its office bearers to Dhaka. Everyone in the ACC knows the geopolitical situation in the Indian subcontinent. It is rather insensitive for the ACC to organise such an important meeting (in Dhaka),” a BCCI official was quoted by the Times of India.
The Times of India report also stated that the BCCI has received multiple offers from different cricket boards to plan alternate cricket in the August window after the Bangladesh tour. Additionally, the board is considering a multi-nation tournament if the Asia Cup is cancelled.
The Asia Cup is tentatively set to begin on September 5 in the United Arab Emirates. The English and Sri Lankan cricket bodies reportedly maintained offers for India to play cricket throughout that time.
“BCCI has got offers from three-four boards. We are studying them. BCCI wouldn’t want the Indian team to sit idle for two-three months,” the official said.
The BCCI is awaiting approval from the government before finalizing the tournament's logistics, which will be played in the Twenty20 format, even though it anticipates keeping the hosting rights for the Asia Cup.
“UAE has already been zeroed down as the venue for the Asia Cup. But the issue here is whether India should play Pakistan at all. The UAE was almost confirmed just before the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22.
The government has given the green light to host Pakistan hockey teams this year, but cricket is a different equation. If the ACC doesn’t pay heed, BCCI may pull out of the Asia Cup too,” the official said.
(Times of India report)
